Warren Bennis: A Look at A Leader in Management
Abstract
This study will begin with a look at the life of Warren Bennis and gives some personal history on him. Then it will move on to some of the specific items he gave the business world such as: the 4 factors that any good manager must have, the seven attributes that are essential to excellent leaders, six competencies to successfully meet the needs of the people they lead, and the many literary works that Bennis has written. Also a look is taken at criticisms of Bennis. One example of this is if Bennis claims that good management can not be taught then why is he writing so many books about good management. This study will also look at why Bennis is nationally recognized.
Warren Bennis: A Look at A Leader in Management
This study of Warren Bennis has proven to be very interesting. He has many accomplishments, and he has written many books. This paper reviews many different areas of his life such as: where he came from, what he did before teaching, and some of the many books he has written. Bennis is a wonderful example of any one who wishes to be a more efficient leader or just a better person. Even with Bennis' lack of corporate experience he still has an awesome understanding of the business world and also of some of the best leadership theories. This shows that anyone can master anything with hard work no matter what the situation.
Dr. Warren Bennis is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), in specific, Marshall School of Business. He is the founding Chairman of the Leadership Institute of USC, and has been teaching there since 1979. Other than USC, he has experience teaching at Harvard and Boston University, and was President of the University of Cincinnati from 1971- 1978. He has consulted for Fortune 500 companies, 150 CEOs, numerous corporations, the United Nation, and has advised four U.S. Presidents: Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, and Reagan.
He was born on March 8, 1925 in New York City, New York. He joined the Army during World War II, and after he returned from war, he attended Antioch College at Antioch. While he was in school, he fell under the influence of his mentor, who was Antioch College President Douglas McGregor, also known as the founder of the School of Industrial Psychology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
On this evidence analysis paper about the speech “Leaders and Managers” by Hugh Nibley to the BYU graduated class of 1984, Nibley put all his efforts to motivate the graduated class of the necessity in the world of real leaders and not just merely managers. For this purpose, Nibley started by explaining the hidden history behind the shift of leaders for managers in the world through historical evidence. Also, Nibley explained the basic division between these two characters leaders and managers using clear and consistent explanations. Moreover, the author expressed the different nature of managers and leaders in society with evidence, through examples in the earthly Christian history, societies of The Book of Mormon, and the current society. Furthermore, Nibley used some opposing views to show the mistake of having pure management skills, but also the necessity of having some managerial skills as an essential factor of leadership. Also, in the speech of “Leader and Managers” by Nibley, it was difficult to find a concrete fallacy or to assume that the author used fallacies because of the clear
John P. Kotter, a worldwide famous expert on leadership at Harvard Business School, was a graduate of MIT and Harvard. He joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 1972 and who was voted tenure and a full professorship at the age of thirty-three in 1980. Kotter's honors include an Exxon Award for Innovation in Graduate Business School Curriculum Design and a Johnson, Smith and Knisely Award for New Perspectives in Business Leadership. He again gained the title as the #1 ¡§Leadership Guru¡¨ from a survey for 504 enterprises that was conducted by Business Week magazine. Outline of this book
Bonnici’s book is subdivided into several chapters where in each chapter he points out aspects that a good leader needs to observe. For instance, in the first chapter Bonnici suggests that a good leader should lead in practice and should be a role model.
...ties and differences of the leadership of Steve Jobs and Fr. Jose Arizmendiarrieta that the leadership required for organisations to succeed is unique to the goals and definition of success portrayed by the leader. Their leadership styles were reflected in the organisations development and it can be seen why leadership in organisations is of such importance. What is also clear is that there is no right or wrong way to lead – Fr Jose achieved a sustainable profitable cooperative, Jobs archived a highly profitable company. The leadership practice used needs to fit the organisations vision, the needs of the stakeholders, and be ingrained into followers. The followers need to buy in to the leader’s vision and goals and play their part in implementing the steps required for success. The leader is ultimately responsible for guiding the followers along the path to success.
“Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1931). But in today’s time, the styles of leadership are changed every time a new technology is invented or discovered so there is lack of persistency. The only thing which manages to stay constant is the principles of carrying out business activities. There are philosophies and ideologies on leadership which can be used in any time period as they are mostly a reflection of the principles of leadership. Theorists and authors like Hobbes (1679), Lewin (1947) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), in their time have produced enough material which can be put into use by modern day leaders and managers. Philosophers like Aristotle, who was known to be one of the most business-oriented and practical philosopher of his time, his work is still used by businesses today because of their relevance as he is interested in defining principles in terms of the ethics of leadership (Santa Clara University). In the essay I have tried to show how leadership has adapted to the changes around them and compared to the past and what circumstances caused need to change it. As a layman, anyone would think that the principles centuries ago will be very different to what we follow now but after studying on Hobbes, Lewin and Aristotle it has made a big impact on my way of thinking because the work produced by them still has more relevance compared to some of the work produced now. I have tried to explain the evolvement of leadership through three aspects which are psychology, sociology and philosophy.
Hopen, Deborah. "The Changing Role and Practices of Successful Leaders." Journal For Quality & Participation 33.1 (2010): 4-9. Business Source Premier. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
As a whole, Warren Bennis defined the values and achievement plan for becoming the most successful leader one can be. He highlighted the link between self knowledge and business. A leader is not just “doing a job” or “running a company,” but it’s finding one’s personal vision. Bennis tries to do as much as he possibly he can to shatter this myth. Today, more people are starting to learn what leadership exactly means and what is expected of a leader. It might be evident that in the future competition will be harder
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
I have been fortunate to work with several heads of departments within a couple years of graduating college. During this time, I have worked with quality leaders and not so great ones. The quality leaders were competent, skillful and endowed with people skills. These leaders gave me the opportunity to grow and a sense of purpose. After reading The Leadership Advantage by Warren Bennis, I was quickly reminded about a former superior of mine that lacked the understanding and knowledge of what qualities a leader should have. The company also did not entertain a culture that promotes employee satisfaction.
Psychologist, born in Susquhanna, Pa. He studied at Harvard, teaching there (1931-6, 1947-74). A leading behaviorist, he is a proponent of operant conditioning, and the inventor of the Skinner box for facilitating experimental observations.
Warren Bennis’s leadership theories from On Becoming a Leader serve as a guide to understanding the qualities sand strategies that great leaders often exemplify. Classic leaders like Hillary Clinton have vision, passion, and integrity. These three things are the basic ingredients that Bennis proposes that most great leaders have in common. These are all aspects of leadership that allow people to better understand themselves and the world around them. In Hillary’s case, it is because of her determination to take the lead on different social issues around the world as a prominent figurehead that has allow me to take a closer...
Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns many different companies, is one of the most successful business leaders of our time. According to Howard (2014), he is the second richest American, coming in at a net worth of over $70 billion. Besides his personal net worth, Berkshire Hathaway is the fifth-most valuable public company in the United States at $350 billion (Howard, 2014). While he is clearly a very wise investor, Warren Buffett is also a successful leader. As stated by Spindler (2010), leadership is a crucial part of any successful business, and good leadership is what Mr. Buffett portrays. The analysis given in this paper will show Warren Buffett’s values and leadership qualities, his leadership style, as well as looking into his influence he has on his followers.
Bennis Warren, An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change, Reading, Mass, Addison-Wesly, 1993
This paper describes about my leadership strengths and areas for growth/future study. It also included how these qualities are used in my daily work routine, self-assessment results and a brief explanation on Individual style in leadership.
The leaders in businesses can take Bill Gates as their role model and follow the top 10 qualities that make a good manager based on his experience.1.Choose a field thoughtfully as it’s hard to be productive without genuine enthusiasm,2.Hire carefully and be willing to fire,3.Create a productive environment,4.Define success by making it clear to your employees what constitutes success and they should measure their achievements,5.You have to like people and be good at communicating,6.Develop your people to do their jobs better than you,7.Build morale,8.Take on projects yourself,9.Don’t make same decision twice,10.Let people know whom to please.(Bill Gates, New York Times)