Drucker on Leadership: New Lessons from the Father of Modern Management

Chapter 10. The Responsibility of a Corporation First, Do No Harm

Drucker summarized what he expected from the leader with primum non nocere; in plain English, "above all, do no harm." Drucker was only partly correct in his description of the origin of this cautionary instruction, but his conclusion is so important that it requires a separate discussion.

Hippocrates was a physician born in 460 B.C. on the Greek island of Kos. As Peter Drucker is known as the "Father of Modern Management," Hippocrates is known as the "Father of Medicine." In the ancient world (at least the known Western civilization), Hippocrates was regarded as the greatest physician of his day. In the same manner that Drucker looked at a business, Hippocrates looked at a patient ...