Since 2022, four executives have met every Monday at 7:00 AM to read and discuss Peter Drucker’s Management. We share deep insights born from the convergence of field experience and diverse perspectives. This post is based on the session held on October 27, 2025, regarding “Chapter 32. Developing Management and Managers.”
Introduction
When we think of “developing managers,” we often imagine nurturing core talent or building leadership pipelines. However, Peter Drucker emphasizes that “developing management” is a separate and necessary task. While these two are closely related, they are distinct duties with fundamentally different purposes and focuses.
Decisions made by managers today have long-term impacts, often bearing fruit well beyond their own tenure. Thus, selecting, developing, and testing the next generation of leaders is vital. However, the future market, technology, and social environment will be entirely different from today’s. Therefore, developing the “management”—defining what our business should become—must precede developing the “people.” Let’s explore the profound insights shared by Drucker and our participants.
Key takeaways from the Chapter
Developing Management is a separate task for “Future Management”
Developing management must be outward-focused. It starts with the question: “What kind of leaders and specialists will we need to survive in a rapidly changing environment?” If the world and our business remained stagnant, such reflection wouldn’t be necessary. True development is a process of innovation—analyzing markets, planning new products, and courageously discarding obsolete structures and tasks.
Motivation for Developing Managers must come from the individual
While many expect the company to grow them, the roots of growth lie strictly within the individual. It is the arrogance of leaders to believe they can force growth. Ultimately, the responsibility to sharpen one’s skills rests on each person. The role of the organization is to provide opportunities for challenge and an environment for performance. Beyond that, only an individual’s passion to strive for excellence can overcome organizational helplessness.
The Company as a “Stage for Growth,” Beyond a Mere Means of Livelihood
Providing challenging tasks and growth opportunities is not mere benevolence; Drucker calls it a company’s “duty.” The true purpose of management development is to help individuals bring their capabilities to their maximum. When a career becomes a foundation for potential rather than just survival, the company achieves sustainable growth.
Discussion: From Theory to Field Practice
The Workplace as a Foundation for a “Good Life”
“Management development is necessary to discharge an elementary responsibility which a business enterprise owes to society.” This sentence was our starting point. Owing a debt to society means the workplace must be more than a place to solve the problem of making a living; it must be a foundation where members enjoy a “Good Life.” Real management starts with the responsibility to make someone’s life healthier.
According to a 2024 Gallup study, 34% of employees cited their leader as the person with the most positive influence on their lives—second only to family (44%). What they wanted most from their leaders was “hope.”
Are we Innovating or Replicating?
Recently, a group owner emphasized “ownership” to CEOs, perhaps frustrated that they didn’t act as he envisioned. But does an owner’s “thought” always correctly define the requirements for future management? Many companies get stuck in “internal management”—raising successors who resemble current leaders. We cannot expect future success from those suited only to past formulas. The question shouldn’t be “Are they acting like me?” but rather “What strengths will our leaders need to win in the future market, and what must be discarded?”
Satya Nadella: The Essence of Developing Management
Drucker noted that designing the entire management team is a leader’s great task. Satya Nadella’s succession at Microsoft shows that leadership is about orchestrating the entire team’s capabilities with an eye for the future, not just replicating past success. Choosing Nadella, then head of Cloud, was a signal to reorganize the entire team—once stuck in a “Windows-centric” mindset—into a new orchestra centered on “Cloud First” and a “Growth Mindset.” This is the best case of redesigning an organization’s technical and cultural alignment based on the question: “What must our business be tomorrow?”
Closing: The Best Welfare is the “Back of a Boss”
Burnout and alienation aren’t just from heavy workloads. Drucker warns that alienation begins when an individual loses commitment to personal excellence. Whether you remain a “cog in the machine” or become a master of your life depends on your responsibility for self-development. Only the passion to be excellent can overcome organizational inertia.
In this journey, the leader’s influence is absolute. A leader shouldn’t just demand growth but must be an “irresistible role model” by constantly learning. A boss can be the best helper or the most devastating obstacle to motivation. Defining the essence of our business and becoming a model of growth—this is the path. When a career becomes a foundation for potential, both the company and the individual can thrive. Only through such rigorous self-reflection can we rescue individuals and organizations from the swamp of alienation.