As chief executive officer of The Adecco Group, the world's leading workforce solutions provider, I see the profound changes that are transforming business and the world of work around the world. Automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence are dramatically altering business models, and the rise of the so-called “gig” economy is transforming workforces and working relationships. There has never been a more important time to build a strong culture of leadership in organizations.

Yet, while the world and its foremost corporations are crying out for strong and clear leadership, there are worrying signs of turmoil in both business and politics. Despite significant investment in leadership development, many companies believe the majority of their leaders don't have the skills they need to take their company into the future.

That is why it gives me great pleasure to write this foreword to the third edition of Vince's bestselling book The Leadership Contract. Many have written about leadership, its importance, and its challenges, but few have done so as convincingly and authoritatively as Vince—a position now acknowledged by this expanded and updated version of his best-known work.

The solution, as Vince shows, is that we need leaders to be truly accountable. The Leadership Contract offers compelling and practical ideas for leaders to embrace and organizations to implement. Such proposals have been put into practice with great effect in companies around the world, including within The Adecco Group itself.

With more than 20 years advising companies and executives, Vince Molinaro has carved out a commanding position as a strategic thinker. As global managing director of the leadership transformation practice at Lee Hecht Harrison—the Adecco Group's specialist talent development and career transition subsidiary—Vince is uniquely positioned to comment on leadership and its pitfalls, thanks to his work with leaders of some the world's most forward-thinking companies.

Alain Dehaze
Chief Executive Officer, The Adecco Group