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"On Becoming a Leader" is best described as an in depth devotional that evokes reflection on leadership. This book, as other studies of leadership, cannot be considered a science because it is not falsifiable. Bennis does not present any data, in statistical or case study form, which demonstrated that his theory was of benefit to a significant number of the leaders he described a priori. His approach is to find successful leaders and describe, in hindsight, what made them great. He depends exclusively, and ad nausea, on quotes from existing leaders. For example, Bennis provides a particular quote by Boston prosecutor Jamie Raskin that, within itself, contains quotes from Napoleon and Machiavelli.
Two criticisms of "On Becoming a Leader" are the dated material and some of his revisionist political generalizations. Some anecdotal information is dated with references from the eighties, such as Morton Downey Jr. and references to Bill Cosby's too-good-to-be true television family, the Huxtables. He is also hard on all presidents after Nixon while being favorable to all founding fathers. He attributes the recent paucity of leadership at the presidential level to a leadership vacuum rather than the occurrence of Watergate with its subsequent increased scrutiny and skepticism of the chief executive position.
What makes "On Becoming a Leader" a worthy read is Bennis's emphasis on spiritual journey and self-mastery. A spiritual journey is the leader's ongoing examination of his inner world. The modern leader is not someone whose job is to oversee and manage - he or she will have to navigate an uncertain terrain with skill and finesse. Uncertainty requires the leader to commit to a life of spiritual journey. Despite a chaotic and unpredictable world, a true leader is able to finds direction by introspection. According to Bennis, "You must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and enjoy the process of becoming." A spiritual journey is highly dependent on two factors: self mastery and reflection on experiences. As a leader examines each of the areas of life, then the capacity to lead will be greater than the sum of the individual parts. Bennis explains:
"Leaders differ from others in their constant appetite for knowledge and experience, and as their worlds widen and become more complex, so too do their means of understanding."
Through evolving personal mastery a person can become exponentially self aware, and achieve both personal and interpersonal interconnectedness and synergy. The best preparation for becoming an effective leader is through on-the-job experiences and reflection on those experiences. For Bennis, one of the most effective ways to learn and grow is to benefit from your critical past mistakes. According to Bennis:
"Reflecting on experience is a means of having a Socratic dialogue with yourself, asking the right questions at the right time, in order to discover the truth of yourself and your life."
Bennis spends significant portion of the book discussing the need for leaders to have a liberal arts background. In quoting Jim Burke, Bennis provides this description of a philosopher-activist:
"Also, I've always felt that society lacks philosophers. We ought to have people who dedicate their lives just to thinking. We have plenty of economists, and we have all the sciences covered, but only a handful of thinkers. So maybe that makes me reflective. But I also think of myself as an activist."
This is in great contrast to the currently popular book "The World is Flat," where Thomas Friedman expects leaders with engineering backgrounds to have the advantage. Of course, that's the advantage of discussing a discipline that is unscientific and irrefutable. Everyone can have an opinion and no one is beyond the shadow of doubt.
Bennis's anecdotes are not predictions of overt behavior but quotes of nostalgia from past experience. There are no clear, intersubjectively shared lines of reasoning between the quotations, anecdotes and observations. Perhaps the case for leadership theory is always open to reconsideration and is therefore inherently ambiguous. Undoubtedly, Bennis has made some very provocative points, and should be commended on his accomplishment of compiling such a comprehensive evaluation of leadership. In addition, despite being outdated by 20 years, Bennis's influence on the field of leadership remains strong today. The legacy that "on Becoming a Leader" left behind is tremendous, and Bennis's work has furthered the field of leadership in an infinite number of ways. Clearly, "On Becoming a Leader" is an important tool in practice. It provides great insight into the inner workings of leadership and has resulted in the investigation and development further reflections on leadership.
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Bennis discusses the importance of reflection as a tool for excellent leadership throughout his book On becoming a leader: The leadership classic (2003). I was particularly interested in his insight on reflection because it seems that few leaders have time to luxuriate in quiet time for reflection. After reading this book I see the importance of taking time to listen to one's inner voice. Bennis states that the most important lesson of leadership is learning to trust the inner voice (p. 28). He also states that reflection is one of the four lessons of self-knowledge (p. 50). To explain what reflection means to him, Bennis tells his readers to "think of reflection and perspective as two horns, with synthesis balanced between them. (p. 129)."
One benefit of reflection is that leaders become more self-aware and begin to separate who they are and where they want to go from where others want them to go (p. 48). This is important because in our roles as administrators we are expected to step in and fill certain responsibilities that have been filled by leaders before us. The faculty has certain ideas about how we should act and think. It would make administrator's lives easier at times if we allowed ourselves to morph into the mold that is set for us rather than blazing a new path. Bennis, however, explains that excellent leaders must be willing to take the path less traveled in order to effect positive change.
When reading this book I was concerned about methods of reflection. I was apprehensive and thought I would need to seek guidance on thoughtful and purposeful self-reflection. Bennis gave some direction by suggesting that leaders have a Socratic dialogue with oneself and ask questions about the nature of the issues we face (p. 54). He simplified the process of self-awareness by explaining that leaders have to ask questions that create an understanding of themselves (p. 55).
Bennis addressed the importance of reflection as a way to take in the "big picture" of situations that surround us. He used a quote from Socrates that says "The unexamined life is not worth living" and elaborates that one cannot live successfully unless they are able to reflect on situations and understand the "big picture" of their life (p. 62). I thought his statements regarding freeing oneself from past mistakes by using Socratic inquiry were powerful. As a leader it is inevitable that we will make mistakes. Bennis suggests that reflection is a tool that allows us to move past our mistakes and become free to take future risks without feeling an urge to prove ourselves (p. 70). He urges leaders to not allow their past to constrain them and keep them from reaching their full potential. Leaders must understand what has actually happened and in situations and try to learn from them instead of allowing them to paralyze them (p. 90).
My new understanding of reflection has helped me realize that I must try to learn from the past by taking time to digest and ponder situations. Reflection should not be something that a leader does on vacation or when a huge crisis has happened. Reflection should be a ritual in the life of a leader and a tool that one uses to gain understanding and knowledge.
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Few, if any capture the essence of leadership in todays confusing companies because of the mixed signals. Mr.Bennis has captured the essence of leadership that is timeless.
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Bennis hits the nail squarely on the head. Leaders have vision and step out front. While managers "do things right" true leaders DO THE RIGHT THING. Regardless of the consequences. They have the courage of their convictions.
He says leaders are "shamelessly enthusiastic about their calling... willing to take chances, play the fool." These are the people who are so "obviously on they give us a lift just by walking into the room." Leaders are warriors who take everything as a challenge.
Leaders see a need, get people to do something about it. Why? They believe they are responsible. Leaders are self-directed, fully manifesting who they really are. They are turned on!
Bennis shows us HOW leaders develop themselves. How they establish their own "university," their own learning path. He lists the characteristics common to all those who learn to step out of the pack and forge ahead. Great insights!
My pages of On Becoming A Leader are well-marked and dog-earred. This book is a real gem. It'll get you inside a leader's heart, mind and soul.
Get this book. Devour it. And lead the way for others.
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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.
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