James G. Ellis Shares The Leadership Lessons Behind A Lasting Legacy

In his new book, James G. Ellis shares the lessons he learned throughout his career as an entrepreneur, CEO, professor, mentor, and one of the nation’s most respected business school leaders. He is the former Dean of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

For aspiring leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs, A Journey of Insights: Lessons In Leadership And Legacy, offers a roadmap to success grounded in real-world experience, with a focus on humility, listening, and building strong, collaborative environments. The book is both a personal memoir and a strategic guide for those aiming to leave a lasting legacy in business.

At the core of his message is the central theme that listening to voices around you throughout life is the key to success. “In essence, ears can speak louder than voices,” shares Ellis.

The book also explores pivotal moments that helped define Ellis’ understanding of leadership, including encounters with President John F. Kennedy, lessons from legendary Harvard Business School professor Anthony Athos, and mentorship from business icon Bob Galvin, former CEO of Motorola.

Some of my favorite takeaways from the book include:

Leave time in your day to talk to those around you. Ellis explains that creativity in business doesn’t just happen at your desk. It may be sparked by random hallway conversations or discussions in the employee cafeteria and other office gathering places. The other minds around you are a resource. Use them.

Passion may not guarantee success. However, it will carry you through failure. “Your passion will always put you one level above someone who is simply competent at their job,” explains Ellis. “Your passion is what makes your job feel exceptional to you and that’s something worth finding.”

A good mentor is someone who has been where you might like to go, and who is serving in that mentorship capacity in such a manner that you are their only agenda. They don’t stand to benefit from the relationship other than to see you become a success. They are objective, thoughtful, and caring in their approach to you and your questions. They are generous with their time.

Learning from the ground up is invaluable when you are beginning a career, as it gives you respect for those who do the jobs that make a business run, and for those whose work supports your own work. Any business succeeds on the strength of a variety of workers doing a variety of jobs and the better understanding you have of that, the better the odds for your own success.

Ellis shares these additional insights with us:

Queston: Why was it important for you to author this book now?

Ellis: Well, to be honest with you, I needed to live a full life first. I needed seventy-five years of experience to finally top off a storage tank full of stories to share with my students. When I first started teaching at age fifty, I didn't quite realize how powerful those real-world stories would be in bringing dry, textbook theories to life.

Now, in the later stages of my life, I just wanted to get those lessons down on paper. It is my ultimate giveback to you, the reader, with a deep thanks for listening, learning, and loving. My hope is that by sharing the journey I’ve gone through, others might avoid some of the potholes and mistakes I’ve made or perhaps amplify and build on the good strides I managed to make along the way. Ultimately, this book cascades through many, many stories to show people how they can truly thrive.

Question: What do you believe is the most important leadership skill, and why?

Ellis: At the heart of everything I’ve learned is a surprisingly simple message: Listening may be the most important leadership skill of all. We live in a world where everyone wants to shout, but the truth is that ears can speak louder than voices. First, we listen, and then we learn.

Decades ago, my Harvard Business School professor, Anthony Athos, tested us on this by having us remain completely silent during a 45-minute interview. That exam proved to me that when you truly listen, two things happen: you learn a whole lot of unfiltered truth, and the other person walks away knowing you actually care. People are willing to speak to others if others are willing to listen.

The second, equally vital skill is gaining trust. Trust is implicit, but it isn’t handed to you on a silver platter—it needs to be earned every single day from your employees, your customers, and your stakeholders. If you can't build that foundation of trust, the whole leadership structure crumbles.

Question: During your career, which did you appreciate more, being a mentor or a mentee, and why?

Ellis: That’s a bit like asking which of your kids you love more—I absolutely loved both roles because we are all a product of our surroundings and our experiences. They feed directly into each other.

I deeply enjoyed being a mentee because my own mentors taught me so much. My father, George Ellis, was one of the greatest mentors of my life. Watching the quiet, relationship-focused way he ran his bank established a gold standard for me. I applied his principles to every boss I ever had and tried to embody them when I became a boss myself.

But on the flip side, throughout my business and academic career, nothing has been more satisfying than mentoring. Sitting down with young people, asking Socratic questions instead of dictating what they "should" do, and guiding them through major decisions in their careers and lives is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I loved contributing to their journeys and watching them find their own waves to ride.

Question: What do you want your legacy to be?

Ellis: I’ve never cared much for personal trophies. When I look back at my time in academia, I’m incredibly proud that I left the business school better than I found it, and I can honestly say I enjoyed virtually every minute of my time there.

But as I enter what I call my "Fifth Decade," my focus has shifted entirely to servant leadership and community impact. I want my legacy to be measured by the time and effort I devote to helping those who are less fortunate—most of whom I will never even meet—so they can get their lives back on track and forge ahead. It is the ultimate giveback, and it brings the ultimate reward of knowing I made a real difference.

At the end of the day, I want these the pages in the book and my life's lessons to help those who read them become better partners, parents, siblings, children, bosses, employees, and thought producers. That is the legacy that truly lasts.

Ellis was dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California from April 2007 until June 2019, where he was responsible for the education and well-being of some 5,700 students, both graduate and undergraduate. In addition, he had a full-time tenured appointment as professor of Marketing, where he was since 1997, retiring in July 2021. Prior to being appointed dean, he was vice provost, Globalization, for the university, responsible for building the USC name worldwide.

At USC, he was awarded both the Teaching Has No Boundaries award, given by the faculty, and the Golden Apple Award, given by the students. He also was given the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award from the USC Parents’ Association and was named one of the top five professors at USC by the students.

Holding an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and a BBA degree from the University of New Mexico, Ellis worked in the business world as president/CEO of Porsche Design, a high-end accessories company owned by Europe’s Porsche family. Additionally, he was CEO of Port O’Call Pasadena, a high-end home accessory chain, and owner/partner in six other companies. He started his career with Broadway Department Stores in Los Angeles.

Ellis sits in a directorship or advisory capacity with a number of companies, continuing direct involvement in the business arena. He has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization since 1987. He has addressed many organizations around the world on various business topics and continues to consult with numerous businesses and other organizations.

Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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