Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Warren Bennis "On Becoming a Leader" 1989


True leaders are not interested in proving themselves, they want above all to be able to express themselves fully.

Life is not a competition but a flowering.

Real learning is the process of remembering what is important to you, and becoming a leader is therefore the act of becoming more and more like your true self.

Becoming a leader involves:
  1. Continuous learning and never-dying curiosity
  2. A compelling vision:leaders must first define their reality (what they believe is possible) then set about managing their dream.
  3. Develop the ability to communicate that vision and inspire others to follow it.
  4. Tolerate uncertainty and taking on risk: a degree of daring.
  5. Personal integrity, self knowledge, candor, maturity, and welcome critique.
  6. Original-Leaders learn from others but are not made by others.
  7. Reinvention-to create new things sometimes involves recreating yourself.
  8. Take time off to reflect, which brings answers and resolve.
  9. Passion for the promises of life: a belief in the best for yourself and others.
  10. Seeing success in small everyday increments and joys, not waiting years for the big success to arrive.
  11. Using the context of your life, rather than surrendering to it.

Leadership is a choice and involves leading yourself first.

2 comments:

mezziG said...

"Leadership is a choice and involves leading yourself first." What a staggeringly obvious and simple principle.

There are so many amazingly simple yet profound ideas in that list. A great read.
mezz

mezziG said...

I can't believe I didn't post about this post last time I read it. So many wonderful pieces to challenge. Lots of wisdom. Now to set about achieving some of them.