Managing People Is Like Herding Cats: Warren Bennis on Leadership

by Warren Bennis

Cats, of course, won't be herded. And the most successful organizations in the 21st century won't be managed—they'll be led! The answer to America's current leadership crisis is leaders (not managers) who recognize that "the only capital that really counts is human capital." And whether readers are looking for a leader or looking to be a better one, Warren Bennis knows what it takes. Herding Cats spells out the dilemma facing our leaderless society, details the qualities that successful leaders must have, and explores the challenges that today's leaders must face as they move toward change. The 21st century will require leaders who can inspire and orchestrate change rather than impose or simply react to it.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Management, Nonfiction, Buisness

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Warren Gamaliel Bennis is an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership Studies. Bennis is University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.

“His work at MIT in the 1960s on group behavior foreshadowed -- and helped bring about -- today's headlong plunge into less hierarchical, more democratic and adaptive institutions, private and public,” management expert Tom Peters wrote in 1993 in the foreword to Bennis’ An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change.

Management expert James O’Toole, in a 2005 issue of Compass, published by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, claimed that Bennis developed “an interest in a then-nonexistent field that he would ultimately make his own -- leadership -- with the publication of his ‘Revisionist Theory of Leadership’ in Harvard Business Review in 1961.” O’Toole observed that Bennis challenged the prevailing wisdom by showing that humanistic, democratic-style leaders better suited to dealing with the complexity and change that characterize the leadership environment.

Reviews

[Mike Cuckler]

A humorous,insightful approach to leadership and management. There are more comprehensive books on the topic, but none that have been as easy for me to read.

[Deborah Marcus]

A little out dated, but great thoughts on management and leadership.

[Evelyn Shinta]

Awalnya aku tertarik baca buku ini karena judulnya unik banget "Managing People Is Like Herding Cats". Ekspektasiku, buku ini bakal banyak membahas secara langsung tentang bagaimana susahnya mengelola orang dengan memakai metafora “menggiring kucing”. Tapi ternyata isi bukunya tidak benar-benar berfokus ke sana.

Buku ini lebih berisi kumpulan pemikiran Warren Bennis tentang kepemimpinan, perubahan organisasi, kepercayaan, visi, dan bagaimana memimpin orang-orang yang punya kemampuan serta pemikiran mandiri. Jadi kalau cari buku leadership yang bahas langkah praktis satu per satu, mungkin ini bukan tipe buku seperti itu.

Menurutku, tantangan dari membaca buku ini ada di gaya bahasanya yang cukup kompleks dan lumayan “berat”. Bukan bacaan yang bisa dilahap cepat atau santai. Beberapa bagian perlu dibaca pelan-pelan supaya maksudnya benar-benar masuk.

Tapi di balik itu, buku ini punya banyak poin penting yang layak direnungkan. Ada banyak insight tentang bagaimana pemimpin seharusnya bukan hanya mengatur orang, tapi membangun kepercayaan, memberi arah, dan membantu orang lain berkembang. Banyak bagian yang terasa relevan, bahkan untuk kondisi kerja saat ini.

Jadi meskipun bukan buku yang ringan dibaca, buku ini tetap memberi banyak refleksi dan pelajaran berharga tentang kepemimpinan. Cocok buat pembaca yang suka buku yang mengajak berpikir, bukan sekadar memberi tips instan.

[Rafliansyah Bach]

Pesan Utama

Pesan utama buku ini adalah bahwa kepemimpinan yang efektif memerlukan kemampuan untuk memimpin dan menginspirasi orang lain, bukan hanya mengelola mereka. Bennis menekankan pentingnya membangun kepercayaan dan menghormati anggota tim, serta memiliki visi dan tujuan yang jelas.²

Kelebihan Buku

- Buku ini memberikan wawasan yang berharga tentang kepemimpinan dan bagaimana mengelola orang-orang dengan efektif.
- Penulis memiliki pengalaman yang luas dalam bidang kepemimpinan dan dapat memberikan contoh yang relevan.
- Buku ini ditulis dengan bahasa yang jelas dan mudah dipahami.

[Dody Syahdianto]

Review buku managing people is like herding cats :
Menurut warren bennis di era abad ke 21 sekarang organisasi akan lebih efektif jika dipimpin bukan di kelola, dalam hal ini berfokus untuk menginspirasi dan mengatur perubahan bukan memaksakan atau bereaksi terhadapnya.
Dalam hal kepemimpinan bennis mengedepankan pentingnya membangun kepercayaan dan rasa hormat dalam sebuah tim serta menciptakan seorang pemimpin yang rendah hati .
seorang pemimpin juga harus mampu untuk mengenali nilai modal manusia dan memprioritaskan pengembangannya .

[Jennifer]

Some of the chapters had good insight on leadership. Other times, it seemed like there was a lot of rants about political and popular culture from 20 years ago. Some of the names are still making political headlines today so it gave some insight to their leadership style as well. There was a lot of name dropping. It had good points, but it just didn't seem very cohesive.

[Nico]

I recently got started on a leadership kick, thanks to a leadership conference that I went to during the summer, so when I saw that a friend had marked this as to read, so did I. After reading it, I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in being a leader. Not only did it make a lot of sense, it lined up pretty well with everything I had heard in the leadership conference. There is only one thing that keeps me from rating this 5 stars, and that is the repetition. This book is incredibly repetitive. I understand that many of these concepts are important enough to merit restating, but often it felt like he was repeating an earlier point almost verbatim. There was actually one little paragraph that he did repeat verbatim, separated by a couple of chapters. I won't contest that his ideas are good, because they are, but I think that the presentation could have been a little better.

[Tim]

Of course this isn't cool, but I've read an essay or two by this guy before and liked his insights, and enjoy noting what similarities good leaders allegedly have in common.

[Roxanne]

so true

[Terri Church]

The author presents some good ideas.

[Ian Fiedalan]

Very sharp and vivid on its description and narrative x if you want to standout a leader, consider this material by Bennis.

[Hope]

Good read...