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On Becoming a Leader, Updated & Expanded (Paperback)
by Warren Bennis
| Category:
Leadership, Organization, Management, Business |
| Market price: ¥ 198.00
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¥ 158.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
From Warren Bennis, the Peter Drucker in the arena of leadership, this book is classical study of leadership. |
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Author: Warren Bennis
Publisher: Perseus Books
Pub. in: April, 2003
ISBN: 0738208175
Pages: 256
Measurements: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00020
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- MSL Picks -
In Nov 1987, Time asked in a cover story, "Who's in Charge?" and answered its own question, saying, "The nation calls for leadership, and there’s no one home." You can never emphasize enough the importance of leadership.
It can be said without exaggeration that if Peter Drucker stands for modern management, then Warren Bennis stands for the theory and practice of leadership. His understanding of the difference between a manager and a leader is widely quoted in business school textbooks.
The book On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis was originally published in 1989, however over the years it was credited with being one of the best books on the topic of leadership, so the author has added a new introduction in an attempt to make the book just as valuable in 2005's world as it did in the world of the late 1980's.
The New Introduction does help make the reader have a feeling that the book is current but after only a few chapters and a review of the front cover of the book it is easily noticeable which other parts of the book are almost fifteen to twenty years out of date. For instance the front cover highlights that the book is "Recommended by Vice President Al Gore to All His Advisers", yet in the New Introduction Bennis goes on the chastise President Clinton over his lack of the third leg of the tripod of legacy, integrity.
The book also goes on to question the presidency of George H.W. Bush, when most American's are not only aware of his presidency, but are living in his son, George W. Bush's, presidency.
Despite the elementary contradictions offered by Bennis it is important to note the many benefits of the book that outweigh the trivial timeframe aspects. This book is filled with many important suggestions to the reader on how to become a leader. The most important of which is recognizing that neither any textbook nor any author can ever teach anyone to be the "perfect" leader. W. Bennis begins the book by highlighting the importance of the presence of leaders in an attempt to show the reader that it is needed for them to take the initiative and develop themselves into a leader. This is done by stating the fact that every organization is in need of a leader that can show integrity to the other members of the organization and that good leaders are needed to take those organizations to a future of success and greatness.
The second theme found in On Becoming a Leader and that reappears constantly throughout the book is that only the reader can determine what is it that makes them happy and it is up to the reader to leave all of the excuses behind that are preventing the reader from accomplishing his goals. The important distinction between being "driven" and leading appear in at least three different chapters of the book. Bennis defines being "driven" as a desire to accomplish something individually while he defines leading as the ability to express yourself freely to the point that whatever it is you want to achieve you can share that with those that are under you to convince them that they want to follow you, rather than sit back and watch your "drive" accomplish everything. It is important for leaders to know that without Constancy, Congruity, Reliability, and Integrity they will not have any genuine followers and that only those individuals that are paid to follow you will follow you for the only reason of achieving that paycheck.
The third and final theme found in the book is one of Reaction and Reflection. A leader must determine what it is they want to achieve, determine a path to that goal and constantly re-evaluate their actions to achieve that goal. The more frequently someone thinks about their actions and contemplates how those actions help or hinder them on the path to their goal the better leader they will become. A leader sees the world how it is and sees it how they think it should be at the same time. This "Double-vision" brings the important changes the leader thinks need to be made to make it easier for him and his organization to reach their goal.
Becoming a leader by simply reading a book or listening to a speaker's workshop is impossible. However, every reader of On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis learns that is it up to the reader to work for his/her goals, the sooner they can determine what they want to achieve and the longer they work to revise/adjust how they are working towards that goal the better leader they will become. Understanding that leadership is more of a social science, than a physical science helps the reader accept the contradictions of the book and thus they become more willing to listen to the instructions of the author. (From quoting Don, USA)
Target readers:
Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, governments and nonprofit leaders, professionals, and MBAs.
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Warren Bennis is a Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and a consultant to multinational companies and governments throughout the world. He is the author of 20 books, including the bestselling Leaders and An Invented Life. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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From the Publisher:
Leadership, claims management guru Warren Bennis, is something like beauty – hard to define, but you know it when you see it. This book, long established as a management classic, is about the "hows" of leadership: how people become leaders, how they lead, and how organizations encourage or stifle potential leaders.
Since leadership cannot, by definition, take place in a vacuum, this book analyzes the myriad forces that conspire against would-be leaders. Before anyone can learn to lead, he or she must learn something about the strange new world leaders must operate in. Anyone who does not master the mercurial context will be mastered by it!
All good leaders have in common a passion for the promises of life and the ability to express themselves fully and freely!
This book is based on the assumption that good leaders are people who know who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and HOW to fully deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses!
Leaders are made, not born. They are people who know what they want, why they want it and how to communicate what they want others in order to gain their cooperation and support. Based on a series of interviews with a dynamic mix of leaders from many different fields including law, medicine and cinema, On Becoming a Leader offers practical advice for those ready to make the transition from management to leadership.
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As a nation can't survive without public virtue, it can't progress without a common vision. America hasn't had a national sense of purpose since the 1960s, when in unprecedented show of common cause, millions of Americans vehemently opposed government policies. Instead of changing its policies, however, the government went underground. The Iran-contra affair, like Watergate before it, was an effort to deceive American people, not our enemies.
As the government went underground and the more affluent among us took to their electronic towers, an especially ugly breed of entrepreneurial parasite took over our inner cities, peddling crack not only to the underclass, but to the uneasy rich and the bored children of the middle class. Today, Americans spend more money annually on drugs than on oil. The land of the free and the home of the brave is the world’s #1 addict.
This, then, in the context. The moment we decided we could create our reality, we had no use of dreams, forgetting that a dreamless sleep is death. What those Philadelphia geniuses created in the 18th century and their successors embellished in the 19th century, the organization men, in both government and business, have turned into a giant machine whose myriad wheels spin frantically in the mud, going nowhere.
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The underlying issue in leading from voice is trust – in fact, I believe that trust is the underlying issue in not only getting people on your side, but having them stay there. There are 4 ingredients leaders have that generate and sustain trust:
- Constancy. Whatever surprises leaders themselves may face, they don't create any for the group. Leaders are all of a piece, they stay the course.
- Congruity. Leaders walk their talk. In true leaders, there is no gap between the theories they espouse and the life they practice.
- Reliability. Leaders are there when it counts; they are ready to support their co-workers in the moments that matter.
- Integrity. Leaders honor their commitments and promises.
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| View all 13 comments |
Peter Drucker, USA
<2006-12-22 00:00>
This is Warren Bennis' most important book. |
Tom Peters, USA
<2006-12-22 00:00>
Warren Bennis – master practitioner, researcher, and theoretician all in one, has managed to create a practical primer for leaders without sacrificing an iota of necessary subtlety and complexity. No topic is more important; no more able and caring person has attacked it. |
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, USA
<2006-12-22 00:00>
Only Warren Bennis could write a book on leadership that is so inspiring and insightful, captivating and wise, eloquent and revealing. His beautifully crafted stories of outstanding leaders and their fascinating paths to power are sure to launch an exciting journey of self-exploration for future leaders. |
Publishers Weekly, USA
<2006-12-22 00:00>
Business consultant and University of Southern California professor of business administration, Bennis here deplores what he considers a dearth of leadership in the world. Although he provides solid, practical guidance in how to fill this vacuum, his philosophically and psychologically rich volume seeks primarily to define leadership - which, in his view, requires self-knowledge and clear personal goals. Leaders in widely diverse areas - represented by television producer Norman Lear, AIDS researcher Mathilde Krim, CEO John Sculley and feminist Gloria Steinem - all share, contends Bennis, the ability to unite people in a common purpose. The curiosity of leaders, their faith in an "inner voice" and success in seizing control of their lives distinguish them from mere managers. But while a leader may demonstrate talent, the author observes that its fulfillment depends largely on organizational response to the challenge. |
View all 13 comments |
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