Bennis Leadership

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According to Bennis (1994), the road to leadership is not a quick linear journey. Situations surroundings your birth or the conditions of your childhood do not necessarily lead to leadership. Bennis described leadership as a cyclical journey of self-reflection and discovery where the leader forms a vision and direction for the future. Bennis begins by discussing some basic qualities of leaders and outlines a few exemplar leaders.
Bennis (1994) noted, “The first basic ingredient of a leadership is a guiding vision” (p. 39). A leader cannot follow the guidelines and mandates of the institution without understanding the need for and developing a new vision for the future. This vision is essential to leadership and is one of the characteristic differences between a leader and a manager. Bennis continued to detail other basic characteristics of leaders:
1. passion
2. integrity (including self-knowledge, candor, and maturity)
3. integrity
4. curiosity and daring. (p. 40-41)
These characteristics can be developed over time. Bennis (1994) noted, however, that these traits couldn’t be learned short-term through trainings and stated, “I would argue that more leaders have been made by accident, circumstance, sheer grit, or will than have been made by all the leadership …show more content…
The best leaders are those who continually reinvent themselves and reevaluate their goals. Past presidents such as Kennedy, Truman, and F.D. Roosevelt have been examples of leaders. While some of them had a beneficial childhood, it was not their childhood that made them good leaders. They had vision and an ability to communicate that vision to the people. These leaders learned from past mistakes and forged ahead to new goals. Bennis (1994) stated, “Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy invented themselves and then invented the future” (p.44). Once again, self-reflection and re-invention are key to becoming an effective

Warren Bennis Leadership

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