"Power lasts 10 years," goes an old Korean proverb. "Influence, not more than a hundred." In a year that brought the mighty to their knees, some of the biggest players in business have seen their power whittled away. The once-venerated Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September. American International Group now bows to government officials after nearly collapsing under a web of risky bets. Even the blue-chip General Electric found itself going hat-in-hand to Warren Buffett.rnAs the proverb points out, influence has a shelf life, too. And it's probably getting shorter as the cycle of change accelerates. Companies that once wielded a seemingly un-shakeable hold over their industries-General Motors, Sony, Microsoft-now find themselves following the lead of more nimble players such as Toyota, Apple, and Google. "There's no standing still," notes veteran strategy guru Gary Hamel. "Influence is like water, always flowing somewhere."
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