Warren G. Bennis Quotes - Page 2

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.

Don't over-react to the trouble makers.

Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.

If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to a single rule, it would be to speak truth to power.

One of the qualities that all the leaders have is a voracious appetite to learn whatever they do not as yet know and understand, coupled with an openness to new experiences.

Listening to the inner voice - trusting the inner voice - is one of the most important lessons of leadership.

Manage the dream: Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality.

Growing other leaders from the ranks isn't just the duty of the leader, it's an obligation.

What makes a good follower? The single most important characteristic may well be a willingness to tell the truth. In a world of growing complexity leaders are increasingly dependent on their subordinates for good information, whether the leaders want to hear it or not. Followers who tell the truth and leaders who listen to it are an unbeatable combination.

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

One of the worst mistakes is to do nothing.

There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.

Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard.

More leaders have been made by accident, circumstance, sheer grit, or will than have been made by all the leadership courses put together.

The future has no shelf life

Vision animates, inspires, transforms purpose into action.

Leaders do not avoid, repress, or deny conflict, but rather see it as an opportunity

Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just on the bottom line.

Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.

Great things are achieved by talented people who are absolutely convinced that they not only can but will achieve them.

Charisma is the result of effective leadership, not the other way around.

It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers.

People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.

Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.

To become a leader, then, you must become yourself, become the maker of your own life