Transcript Dr. Warren Bennis

Dr. Warren Bennis
Presented by: Angela Smith
Conceptual Foundations of Management
Anderson University
May 25, 2001
Dr. Warren Bennis
• Distinguished professor of Business
Administration at USC
• Founding Chairman of the Leadership
Institute at USC
• Authored more than 2,000 articles and
27 books
• Advised four U.S. Presidents
• One of top 10 speakers on Management
• “Dean of Leadership Gurus”
1935-1943
An Invented Life…
1943-1947
• 1943: Joined the US Army
• 1944: second lieutenant in the
European Theatre of Operations
• Youngest infantry officer at the
age of 19
• Affirmed his lifelong interest in
the topic of leadership
• Met his first mentor - Captain
Bessinger
1947-1951
• 1947: Antioch College
• Influences at Antioch:
- famous co-op program
- desire to achieve personal
satisfaction
- look for the explanations
of life
• Met his second mentor - Douglas McGregor
1951-1956
• MIT Economics Department
• Taught Social Psychology for one
ye
(1955-1956) as an assistant professor
1995-1967
• Boston University
• National Training Laboratories
(NTL) in Bethel, Maine
• New social invention: T-Groups
• Focus was on group structure and
communication
• Two articles on “natural groups”
• 1959: returned to MIT to work with
McGregor
The Planning of Change (1961)
• “the only constant of today's society is
change”
• By planning change, we work toward
specified goals in a comprehensive and
organized manner.
The Temporary Society (1968)
• Explored new organizational forms
• Envisioned organizations as adhocracies
as opposed to bureaucracies
• Argued the triumph of
democracy worldwide was
inevitable and would come
to pass within 50 years
• Labeled a “futurologist”
1967-1971
• 1967: Provost at the State University of
New York at Buffalo
• Experienced first-hand unsuccessful change
• The vision was not communicated to the
organization
• 1971: resigned as provost
1971-1978
• 1971: President
• Bennis’s First Law of Academic
Pseudynamics - routine work drives out
nonroutine work and smothers to death all
creative planning
• Focused on leading, not managing
• 1977: Resigned as president
1971-1978
• American organizations are under led and
over managed
Managers
vs.
Leaders
Managers administer
Leaders innovate
Managers focus on systems and
structure
Leaders focus on people
Managers rely on control
Leaders inspire trust
Managers have short-range
views
Leaders have long-range
perspectives
Managers learn through training
Leaders opt for education
Managers do things right
Leaders do the right thing
1977-1985
• Country was experiencing “despair” and
Institutions’ credibility was eroding steadily
• “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”
• Bennis attempted to seek out leaders who
were effective under these adverse
conditions
• Spent five years traveling and interviewed
90 successful leaders
Leaders (1989)
• Four competencies of Leadership:
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Management of Attention
Management of Meaning
Management of Trust
Management of Self
• Empowerment (4 themes):
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People feel significant
Learning and competence matter
People are part of a community
Work is exciting
1979
• Professorship at University of Southern
California
• His focus at USC is on communication,
research and his life lessons:
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self-invention
importance of organization
nature of change
nature of leadership
The Leadership Classics
• Learning to Lead (1997)
(coauthored with Joan Goldsmith)
• Why Leaders Can’t Lead (1997)
• Managing People is Like Herding Cats
(1997)
On Becoming A Leader, 1994
• Based on the following
assumptions:
– Leaders are people who express
themselves fully
– Leaders know what, why and
how to communicate what they
want
– Leaders know how to achieve goals
On Becoming A Leader
• Three common points:
– Leaders are made, not born, and made by
themselves more than by any external means
– No leader sets out to be a leader per se, but
rather to express himself freely and fully
– Leaders continue to grow and develop
throughout life
Organizational Success
• What it will take to survive:
– Staying with the status quo is unacceptable
– The key to future competitive advantage will be
the organization’s capacity to create the social
architecture of generating intellectual capital
– Followers need specific qualities from their
leaders
Qualities of a Leader
• Seven attributes essential to leadership:
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Technical competence
Conceptual skill
Track record
People skills
Taste
Judgment
Character
Demands of Followers
• Five competencies critical to a leader’s success
in a knowledge economy:
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strong sense of purpose
organizational and personal integrity
resilience or “hardiness”
provide development opportunities
propensity toward action, risk, curiosity, and courage
Exemplary Leadersip
Exemplary Leadership
Needs of Followers
Values of Leaders
 Direction
 Purpose, Passion,
Meaning
 Trust
 Organizational &
Personal Integrity
 Hope/Optimism
 “Hardiness”
 Learning &
Personal Growth
 Development
Opportunities
 Results
 Bias toward Action,
Risk, Curiosity, &
Courage
Direction
Needs of Followers
 Direction
Values of Leaders
 Purpose, Passion,
Meaning
• The need of direction:
– Effective leaders have an innate purpose in
everything they do. The purpose is passionate
and possesses meaning
– Passion is comprised of conviction,
commitment and resolve
– Meaningful purpose demonstrates “purpose
beyond oneself”
Trust
Needs of Followers
 Trust
Values of Leaders
 Organizational &
Personal Integrity
• Distrust is a growing phenomenon in the
American culture
• Five “C’s of Trust”:
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Competence
Constancy
Caring
Candor
Congruity
Hope/Optimism
Needs of Followers
Values of Leaders
 Hope/Optimism
 "Hardiness"
• Hope combines “agency” of goal-directed
determination with the ability to generate
the means of reaching the goal
• Effective leaders must exhibit a “hardiness”
• Effective leaders must be full of confidence
Learning & Personal Growth
Needs of Followers
Values of Leaders
 Learning & Personal
Growth
 "Hardiness"
• Leaders must provide the right development
opportunities to support the learning and
personal growth of their people
Results
Needs of Followers
 Results
Values of Leaders
 Bias toward Action, Risk,
Curiosity & Courage
• Followers expect results
• Leaders must be willing to take risks
• As Wayne Gretsky points out “You miss
105% of the shots you don’t take”
Exemplary Leadership Results
Exemplary Leadership
Needs of Followers
Values of Leaders
To Help Create
 Direction
 Purpose, Passion,
Meaning
 Clear Goals &
Objectives
 Trust
 Organizational &
Personal Integrity
 Reliability &
Consistency
 Hope/Optimism
 “Hardiness”
 Energy &
Commitment
 Learning &
Personal Growth
 Development
Opportunities
 Increase
Productivity &
Loyal Workforce
 Results
 Bias toward Action,
Risk, Curiosity, &
Courage
 Confidence &
Creativity
Organizing Genius (1997)
• “Great Groups”
• “None of us is as smart
as all of us”
• The Economist:
– among senior executives of international firms,
61% said that “teams of leaders” will have the
most influence on their organizations in the
next decade; only 14% said “one leader”
Organizing Genius
“This is reality and we have to recognize this
new paradigm. We cling to the myth of the
Lone Ranger, the romantic idea that great
things are usually accomplished by a largerthan-life individual working alone. We still
tend to think achievement in terms of the
Great Man or the Great Woman, instead of
the Great Group”
Great Groups
• Studied some of the most noteworthy great
groups of our time - the Manhattan Project,
Xerox, Apple Computer, and Walt Disney
• Was interested in what made the groups “tick”
Great Groups
• Eight common principles:
– At the heart of every Great Group is a shared
dream
– They manage conflict by abandoning individual
egos to the pursuit of the dream
– They have a real or invented enemy
– They view themselves as winning underdogs
Great Groups
– Members pay a personal price
– Great Groups make strong leaders
– Great Groups are the product of meticulous
recruiting
– Great Groups are usually young
New Paradigm
• Three elements : ACE
– Align
– Create
– Empower
• “We are all angels with only one wing; we
can only fly while embracing one another”
Dr. Warren Bennis
“Warren Bennis gets to the heart of
leadership, to the essence of integrity,
authenticity, and vision that can never be
pinned down to a manipulative formula.
He provides solid, practical guidance in
his philosophically and psychologically
rich volume.”
--Tom Peters
Dr. Warren Bennis
“Bennis teaches leaders to maximize their
virtues, correct their faults, face change
successfully, and love their work. Leaders
will win, but so will their organizations:
Bennis advocates a collaborative leadership
that empowers employees and enhances
organizational effectiveness. A priceless
gift to those seeking to be accountable
leaders.”
--Peter Drucker
Dr. Warren Bennis
Presented by: Angela Smith
Conceptual Foundations of Management
Anderson University
May 25, 2001