What Do I Do Now?

About the Book

Author Ted Farrington clearly and concisely shares his pragmatic insights about the critical importance of leadership in achieving technical and business success. What Do I Do Now? Becoming a 21st-Century Leader clarifies, in a very practical way, the difference between leading and managing, between enabling growth and controlling it, and between inspiring and giving orders.

About the Author

The author pursuing his favorite sport.  “Years ago, I told my management that ‘all managers should take up marathoning to learn the value of long, sustained performance.  Another idea that didn’t go very far!’”

Reprinted with permission of Chappell/MarathonFoto.

Ted Farrington was born and raised in upstate New York where he worked many hours on a dairy farm through his teenage years.  He received a BS degree in Math and Physics along with an MS in Math from Clarkson College of Technology in 1975.  In 1977 he obtained an MS degree in Chemical Engineering from Caltech and, after working in industry a few years, received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maine.  His R&D career has spanned 25 years in different settings.  He has worked in R&D with several well-known corporations in roles ranging from scientist to vice president and corporate officer. He holds 19 US patents.  During the late 1980’s he spent a few years teaching at the graduate school level but ultimately returned to industry.  He has also been involved with several university-industrial-government consortia during his career.  While Ted is certainly well-traveled during his career, this has given him the opportunity to observe many different R&D models and leadership styles at work.  Ted firmly believes that most workers are greatly underutilized and the problem can be traced to managers and leaders who refuse to leave their comfort zones so others can excel.  He currently works for a Fortune 100 company and lives in New Hope, PA with his wife Gail.