Interview: William A. Cohen

Cohen is founder and president of The Institute of Leader Arts. He is also a retired major general from the U.S. Air Force Reserve. After graduating from West Point, Cohen flew 174 combat missions in A-26 aircraft in the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters, and the Air Medal with eleven oak leaf clusters. He has written 53 books, including The Stuff of Heroes, The New Art of Leadership and The Art of the Strategist. His latest is A Class with Drucker, based on his graduate study under Peter Drucker’s supervision and his personal friendship with him. He also has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago as well as M.A, and Ph.D. degrees from Claremont Graduate University.

Here is a brief excerpt from my interview of Cohen:

Morris: How would you characterize Drucker’s teaching style?

Cohen: Mostly he lectured in what is probably the traditional European style, except that he used no notes whatsoever. Occasionally he would ask questions, and he would also welcome them, but most of his answers were not a few short comments. He used stories to illustrate his points as in his lectures. However, you had to listen closely as his stories in response to a question because, at first, the stories seemed to have no relevance whatsoever. This would lead to another point that seemed to have no relevance either and this could go on and on. However, if you stayed with him, sometimes for as long as an hour, he would suddenly tie everything together. It was only then that you realized that he felt that you needed to hear everything in order to understand fully the point he was making. He gave no tests, but he had us write a number of short papers for a course. He graded every single one of these papers himself, never with any help from graduate assistants.

Morris: At that time, graduate students and their professors (including Drucker) took dinner breaks and gathered at a cash bar in the Faculty Club, then dined together before resuming classes. There must have been some especially lively conversations.

Cohen: This was always true. However, it wasn’t a cash bar. The drinks and the meals were free. Unfortunately this practice had to be abandoned, probably because of the potential liability of the university in case of an accident as tired executives, who had had one or two drinks, drove home after a difficult day both at the office and in the classroom. However, I never knew anyone to abuse this and these conversations were useful with all of our professors, not just Peter. However I think he enjoyed them more than most and several of “the lost lessons” in my book came from these conversations. Peter knew who he was and what he could do. He was always observing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions. He considered himself a constant student. A classmate once asked him how he could make so many accurate predictions about the business world. “I listen,” he responded. And then with a typical, humorous, but no doubt accurate Drucker comment, he added: “To myself.”

If you wish to read the complete interview, please contact me at interllect@mindspring.com.

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