CEO Hall of Fame
Most Respected CEOs and CEO Hall of Fame

Warren Bennis
Leadership Guru - (1925 - Present)

• "Empowerment is the collective effort of leadership." (Warren Bennis)

Key Work

• Sets up department for organizational studies at MIT.
• Appointed Provost of State University of New York (SUNY)
• President of the University of Cincinnati.
• Professor of Management at the University of Southern California.
• He researches leadership characteristics among  90 successful American leaders in different fields ranging from Neil Armstrong, The Astronaut to Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's
• Publication of "The Unconscious Conspiracy : Why Leaders Can't lead.", "Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge". "On Becoming a Leader" and "Organizing Genius".

In His work with and Nanus, he identified four common factors amongst the leaders.

1. Vision
2. communication
3. Positioning and Trust
4. Positive self-regard and developed "emotional wisdom,"

"Transformative" Leadership = Empowerment Via

1. Significance - a feeling of making a difference
2. Competence - development and learning "on the job"
3. Community - a sense of inter-dependence and involvement in a common cause
4. Enjoyment - capacity to have fun at work because it is enjoyable and involving.

They outline 5 myths about leadership are identified and contradicted:

1. Leaders are born not made
2. Leadership is a rare skill
3. Leaders are charismatic - most are ordinary.
4. Leadership can exist only at the "top" - it is relevant at all levels.
5. Leaders control, direct, and manipulate - they do not. Transformative leaders empower and align the efforts towards an attractive goal.

Books and References:

• Why Leaders Can't Lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues
• Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge (Collins Business Essentials)
• On Becoming A Leader: The Leadership Classic--Updated And Expanded
• Bennis, Warren, with Patricia Ward Biederman. Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 1997.
• Managing People Is Like Herding Cats: Warren Bennis on Leadership. Provo, UT: Executive Excellence Publishing, 1998.
• Managing the Dream: Reflections on Leadership and Change. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 2000.

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