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Business Management Book Store > Business Management books beginning with O
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On Becoming a Leader: The Leadership Classic |
Author: Warren Bennis
Published: 2003-04 |
List price: $17.50
Our price: $11.90
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As of: November 20th, 2008 01:34:54 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 On Becoming A Leader
In my book and audio book, Managing Thought: How Do Your Thoughts Rule Your World?, I mention that my teachings represent thousands of years of wisdom from many roads -- business, psychology, neurology, biology, chemistry, physics, metaphysics, and spiritual teachings. On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis is a timeless book was of particular influence to me early in my business career. Bennis discusses how leadership requires self-awareness, self-control, clear personal goals, curiosity, and faith in an "inner voice."
One of the best books on leadership ever published
Those who understand the fundamentals of leadership realize that it is an artful combination of arrogance and humility. The arrogance is needed so that you have the confidence to take the calculated risks that all leaders must take. Without confidence, leadership is impossible, because if the leader does not believe, neither will the followers. Humility is needed in enough measure so that the leader is able to encourage, listen to and properly process dissent. The modern world is so complex that no one person can come close to understanding all the nuances of policies and their consequences. Therefore, the effective leader must constantly seek out intelligent advice, whatever it may be and wherever it may lead.
In this short book, Bennis sums up much of what is wrong with the business leadership class in the United States. The primary problem is the "necessity" for short-term thinking to dominate the decision making process. Stockholders and Wall Street observers make their confidence decisions based on what happens over three months; successful long-term planning generally requires lowered achievement now with the expectation of even higher performance later.
Bennis also chastises the executives who neglect their other responsibilities to the employees and community. While some organizations can neglect the local community in order to please the broader context, most must maintain good relations with those in the immediate vicinity. This is especially true in the modern age of immediate communications, where an accurate negative comment can have global exposure in a matter of minutes. No matter what the most capable of executives may think, the success of their organization is due more to the quality of work of the employees than to the wisdom of the management class.
This is one of the best books on managerial leadership ever written, Bennis is known as an authority on leadership. From this book, it is easy to see that his wisdom is clear and his title of guru is well deserved.
 Ivory tower Liberal
I am disappointed by Warren's attitude and mindset in his introduction for this book. I was required to purchase this for a graduate level course and thus am going to read it against my better judgment. I have only read the introduction thus far, but am already very apparent of his liberal bias and distaste for the corporate world. He is very judgmental of corporate leaders and questions their worth. He mentions how they make 300 times the salary of the average worker ($30,000) and have an annual median income of around $11 million. I argue that the majority of corporate leaders are worth their value and provide more value and moral authority than most sports figures who earn similar incomes and have enjoyed a continuous lifestyle of protection from legal consequences and maintain an entitlement attitude. These are the "leaders" our children look at and try to emulate. It is obvious that Warren is envious of the leaders in corporate America that are making significantly more money than he is as they provide value to society.
Warren has been quoted in so many leadership books I have read...I find his mindset disturbing and question why any author would cite him, but for his leadership theories that may be appropriate. He is definitely a liberal democrat and believes in equality for all and maintains a distain for the wealthy. He believes that Al Gore should be president and defends the impeached Bill Clinton.
Perhaps my respect for his "leadership theories" will enhance while reading this book, but I question how an author with flawed fundamental principles can be credible in teaching others about leadership.
I provide this review to alert others to his biased stand towards wealth, capitalism, and that he perpetuates the stereotype of an academic liberal.
 Leaders Inspire Trust and Loyalty; Maximize Productivity
In my book, The Three Pillars of Sustainable Profit & Growth The Three Pillars of Sustainable Profit and Growth, I state that the best all-encompassing definition of leadership that I ever came across was from the book Leaders by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus: "The leaders have a positive self-regard called `emotional wisdom.' This is characterized by an ability to accept people as they are; a capacity to approach things only in terms of the present; an ability to treat everyone, even close contacts, with courteous attention; an ability to trust others even when this seems risky; and an ability to do without constant approval and recognition."
He follows-through with, and expands on this philosophy in On Becoming a Leader. Some of his concepts that I found most significant are:
Core Leadership Ingredients: A guiding vision; passion; integrity; trust, curiosity and daring.
The difference between "Leaders" and "Managers." He listed 12, and I found three particularly meaningful:
The manager asks how and when; the leader what and why
The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people
The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust
On adapting to changing market realities: "Unless the leader continues to evolve, to adapt and adjust to external change, the organization will sooner or later stall."
As I stress in my book, the key to employee productivity and loyalty is consistency and trust - hard to achieve, and once lost takes a long time to reestablish. I agree completely with Bennis on the four ingredients leaders must have in order to generate and sustain trust: Constancy, Congruity, Reliability, and Integrity.
 Good for Context, Poor for Content
I recommend this book solely on the merits of its influence. For decades, it has served as a core reference to the study of leadership. Staying power earns the book a place on my personal bibliography, but not an endorsement of its philosphy. Reading it has helped me appreciate many modern schools of thought on leadership, and for that purpose I found it beneficial.
There are gems of insight that punctuate the text, and occur most often when Mr. Bennis remains focused on the principles of leadership. Unfortunately, these gems are separated by lengthy discourse about the author's personal heroes--a collection of personalities sharing both ties with the Hollywood and the political left. With a mere tip of the hat to the issue of character, the author gushes an embarrassing level of flattery toward those who simply "broke the mold". This is most obvious in his discussions of Norman Lear, whom he praises for pushing the envelope of society morays and introducing taboo subject matter to television. The author's fascination with Lear seems due solely to his reputation as a moral renegade, with no ties to any other aspects of leadership. Mr. Bennis seems to recognize that his philosphy exalts strong leaders, but not necessarily good ones. There are halting caveats thrown in with references to Hitler et al, a weak denouncement of his destination from an author unwilling to abandon the road that got him there.
These oddly-fit vignettes serve to undermine the credibility of what I believe are generally pretty good philosophical observations. I found the discussion of self reflection particularly helpful and applicable, for example. If the book contained only these nuggets worth reading, it could easily fit in a tenth of the pages.
My advice: Read the book for context, and mine it for gems. Don't check your moral compass or sound reasoning at the door--Mr. Bennis will not provide those for you.
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