Max De Pree (October 28, 1924 – August 8, 2017) was an American businessman and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

. A son of

D. J. De Pree Dirk Jan De Pree (July 31, 1891 – December 10, 1990) was an Americans, American furniture designer. Early life De Pree was born in Zeeland, Michigan, in 1891. His father was a tinsmith who was active in local politics. His grandparents were ...

, founder of

Herman Miller Herman Miller, officially MillerKnoll, Inc., is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings, including the Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is a ...

office furniture company, he and his brother Hugh De Pree assumed leadership of the company in the early 1960s, with Hugh becoming CEO and president in 1962. Max succeeded his brother Hugh as CEO in 1980 and served in that capacity till 1987; he was a member of the company's Board of Directors until 1995.Company Timeline
on Herman Miller Company website His book ''Leadership is an Art'' has sold more than 800,000 copies. In 1992, De Pree was inducted into the Junior Achievement's U.S. Business Hall of Fame. He was involved with the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compr ...

(established in 1996 as the De Pree Center) since its establishment. He died at his home in Holland, Michigan in 2017.

Studies

He had planned to become a doctor. He studied at

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

but was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He served in the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medi ...

in the

European Theatre of Operations The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

. Still in the Army, he studied at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, Haverford College, and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

. After his military service he attended

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricul ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1948.

Management style

He fostered the idea of an inclusive corporation, one in which all voices are heard. He was known for his efforts to combine a caring organization with business success. As opposed to the idea of a

golden parachute A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually an upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. These may include severance pay, cash bonuses, s ...

, he proposed the idea of a silver parachute, in which terminated employees who had worked more than 2 years for a company would receive benefits according to the number of years served. He encouraged open communication in the organization. He was often heard to say "Err on the side of over-communication."

Works

*''Leadership is an Art'' ; Michigan State University Press (1987) ; *''Leadership Jazz'' ; Dell Publishing (1993) ; *''Dear Zoe'' ; Harper Collins (1996) ; *''Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board'' ; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2001) ; *''Leading Without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community'' ; John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. (2003) ;

References

External links

Personal profile
at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership {{DEFAULTSORT:De Pree, Max 1924 births 2017 deaths American business writers American motivational writers Hope College alumni