Julian Blair Baldwin’s To Zuri: Leadership That Outlives Us Explores Legacy, Leadership and Generational Wisdom
The latest Edelman Trust Barometer found that 7 in 10 people are now unwilling or hesitant to trust anyone whose values or background differ from their own, while only 32% of people believe the next generation will be better off. As faith in institutions collapses, people are placing what trust they have left in those closest to them: family, neighbors, mentors, and colleagues, which raises a question we must ask ourselves:
Where is leadership truly forged, and what do we inherit from it?
The answer arrives at the heart of forthcoming book, To Zuri: Leadership That Outlives Us (River Grove Books, Sept. 29, 2026), written by Cohere Leadership Group CEO Julian Blair Baldwin, who contends that leadership isn’t self-made, but rather inherited — and the truest measure of any leader, or any parent, is what they pass along.
TO ZURI shares an intimate look at the inheritance Julian carries himself as first cousin to one of the four legendary participants of the Greensboro Sit-ins that sparked a Civil Rights Movement — to Fortune 100 boardrooms where Baldwin owned outcomes his ancestors were barred from authoring. The result acknowledges a truth we’ve failed to recognize — or rather willfully ignored.
An introspective, executive playbook written as a series of letters to his infant daughter reveals exactly what shapes principles and identity, and how that very measure determines the legacy of leadership that endures across generations. Each chapter is rooted in lived lessons, pattern recognition, and reliable tools to help anyone prepare for life’s greatest perils.
The ZURI Framework: Concluding every chapter is an assessment built on an acronym inspired by Baldwin’s daughter, Zuri. Rather than prescribing answers, it walks readers through naming the fallacy they've been living by
,excavating their own story,and refining hard-won experience into principles to deliberately shape success today— and for the future.
Principle Over Position: A breakdown of why we reject our convictions, and how to compromise between identity and ambition; framed from two decades of managing multi-billion dollar divisions and walking away from a prestigious CEO role to preserve his integrity.
Carry the Lessons — Not the Baggage: The book’s heartbeat pulses through a series of passages recalling his father’s early passing, reaching a deathbed forgiveness with his mother, and honoring a legacy forged by ancestors who modeled leadership before titles and authority existed.
At a time when our nation starves for belonging, TO ZURI shares a simple solution: A call for every leader, parent and mentor, to leave behind records of who we are and what we believe. This book proves that coherence isn't just a moral virtue, but the ultimate competitive advantage, and that the surest antidote to a disconnected climate is knowing exactly where — and who — you come from.
About Julian Blair Baldwin
Julian Blair Baldwin is an author, leadership thinker, and founder of Cohere Leadership Group. His work names a cost most organizations feel but rarely name: fragmentation, the pressure to be different people across rooms, until trust erodes and execution breaks. He helps leaders translate identity and values into grounded, consistent action.
A graduate of Temple University School of Pharmacy and The Wharton School, where he earned his MBA and received the Dean Patrick Harker Leadership Award, Julian’s perspective was forged not only in executive roles, but in the lived tension of telling the truth within systems that often reward conformity over conviction.
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