Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge

by Warren Bennis

Specially updated to reflect the realities of today's corporate environment, this classic bestseller helps managers cultivate the leadership skills that drive excellence in themselves and in the company at large. "Potentially one of the most important books of its type in a long time."--Chicago Tribune.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Professional Development, Management, Personal Development, Reference

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

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

[Herman Najoli]

This was a good read. I was particularly struck by Bennis’ discussion of operating on instinct in Chapter Five. Possessing the power of instinct is good for leadership because leaders must be action-oriented. My dad referred to it as “gut knowledge”. My mother simply called it “a mother’s intuition”. My wife refers to it as an “ah-HA experience”. My younger brother called it a “bone feeling”. One of my mentors refers to it as “moments of insight”. One of my spiritual leaders calls it “the inner voice”. One of my favorite authors calls it “intuitive perspective”. To me, instinct is simply a sudden flash of accurate hunches. Instinct allows leaders to move into action, eliminates unhealthy uncertainty and motivates leaders and followers towards productivity. Instinct, however, can be a double-edged sword. This is where I take exception to Bennis’s whole hearted endorsement of instinct as a leadership tool. Instinct can lead to rushed decisions which can severely derail an organization’s purposes. A leader who makes decisions based on gut instinct all the time will soon have nothing to put in his gut. Bennis says that ‘it is the individual, operating at the peak of his or her creative and moral powers, who will revive our organizations, by reinventing both self and them’. While this statement may sound brilliant to an audience, it does not capture the full essence of the kind of leader needed today. My counsel to those seeking to use instinct as a leadership tool would be to couple it with sound judgment. Sound judgment comes mainly from divine guidance and the counsel of colleagues who can help see the big picture. Many times instinctive or spontaneous decisions are made when leaders have minimal information and may not be in position to make a more rational, objective decision. Good leaders determine a set of guidelines that they can use whenever they have to make an instinctive decision. Such guidelines could include a yardstick of key questions to ask one-self, a list of people to call for counsel or a set of conditions to be met, depending on the particular situation. Overall, the book has fantastic insight on many aspects of leadership.

[W.D. III · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the textbook in a college seminar I took and it changed my life. It was where it really clicked for me that the primary goal of a leader is as a communicator. Pretty essential for a communication major. I now recommend it to my students!

[Mallika Samtani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical lessons and advice to excel and grow as a leader. The book can be quite white-male focused but the lessons overall are effective. Would like to see an updated version with testimony from new execs.

[Matt Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes, as Im a big fan of Drucker, Senge and other such writers, and am familiar and use Bennis' concept of VUCA a lot... But I found it quite dry and standard, without the original thinking on leadership you get in other theorists.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason why some books are called classics. Timeless, straight-forward advice on effective leadership. Managers should be required to read at least one Bennis book in their career.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent book to determine who your leaders are, the type of leadership you work for, the type of leadership you need to work for and how to become a leader.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a classic book on leadership, still completely relevant!

[Nicole Conlan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class and it's one of the worst, most useless, most dated books I've ever read. The writing is bad, the information is bad.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some definitely good takeaways, but fairly tedious and the authors kind of ignore the usefulness of language in naming things and defining concepts. Out of the four offered strategies, the two of them are either misnamed or majorly digressed from. The chapter on "Meaning through Communication" talks mainly of building meaning through culture or "social architecture" as they call it. The chapter on "The Deployment of Self Through Positive Self-Regard" mainly talks of attitudes on learning...which I'm at a loss to connect the dots back to the former or latter of the chapter title-not that there wasn't good information. Having been written in the early 90s, I like the very brief case studies of various 20th century companies and leaders. The short outro at the end regarding how leadership would change in the future as technology evolves seems to have been spot on with many of the current biggest companies prioritizing research and experimentation to stay ahead.

[Jay Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first books that I ever read on leadership. The four strategies: Vision, Communication, Trust, and deployment of Self continue to remain at the forefront of leadership principles. Leading others and managing self are critical for the success of leaders. The fundamentals are identified in this book and I believe are some of the key missing factors for many of the leadership models we see today. Leadership starts with self. I highly recommend reading this book are a foundation for leading others.

[Bader Al-Shafei · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flipped through the pgs. Didnt read it.

[Ed Winslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a good overview of leading teams and being more than just a manager, but a real leader. It's worth the read.

[Estevo Raposo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un no muy conocido libro, de los años 90, que, partiendo del estudio de unos 90 líderes recomienda y explica cuatro estrategias prácticas para un liderazgo eficaz. Me sorprendió gratamente.

[Gayle Turner]

I wish I had read this 40 years ago. As needed today as it was when it was published in 1985.

[Nanda Wanninayaka · Rating 2 out of 5]

World-renowned leadership guru Warren Bennis and his co-author Burt Nanus talk about four key principals every manager should know: Attention Through Vision, Meaning Through Communication, Trust Through Positioning and The Deployment of Self in the book Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. In corporate America downsizing and restructuring is done in most organizations but lack of communication and distrust has hampered this process. This is where the right leadership comes. The book “Leaders” tackles the very issue. It helps the reader to take correct decisions in the process of transformation of an organization.

The book says that it is the individual, operating at the peak of his or her creative moral powers, who will revive organizations, by reinventing both self and them. Instinct too plays a part but it is dangerous to just let an organization be changed on merely instinct. Sound judgment comes mainly from guidance. One’s experience too is counted here.

Though the book is 25 years old its lessons are still valid. This is a timeless classic. The advice, lessons, guidance in the book will stay valid for decades to come. The book is being recommended to executives, management students even this day. The focus of the book is private sector though.

The authors take examples from big American companies like General Motors, Apple, Microsoft, AT & T, McDonalds, KFC, etc. Stories from such companies will definitely keep the reader interest in the book.

Warren G. Bennis is university professor and founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California. He is also chairman of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Harvard Business School. He has written more than twenty-five books on leadership, change, and creative collaboration including Leaders, which was recently designated by the Financial Times as one of the top 50 business books of all time. His most recent book is Geeks & Geezers.

Burt Nanus is a well-known expert on leadership and the author of many books on the subject, including Visionary Leadership. Now professor emeritus of management at the University of Southern California, he was also research director of the Leadership Institute.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for anyone involved in leadership development, whether for yourself or others.

Bennis sets the case for a need for leadership, the difference between management and leadership (manage yourself, lead others) and then shows the four strategies needed. These strategies were developed after he and his team studied 90 leaders.

The first part of the book examines and describes the four strategies:
- Attention through vision
- Meaning through communication
- Trust through positioning
- The deployment of self through positive self-regard and the Wallenda factor (be brave and bold - focus on the outcome)

The second part of the book examines how to deploy these four strategies and organizational effectiveness.

Definitely worth a read.

[Melanie]

I had to read this book for a class presentation. I of course waited until the last minute, so I did not read this book cover to cover. It contains a lot of good information. However, the information is very complex and hard to process. I also feel that the leadership it describes is not really a leadership style or format that I can really adopt into my own leadership ideals.
With that being said, if you are looking for a challenging, but helpful read when it comes to managerial leadership on a large scale, it is a good read. However, if you are a first year college student, maybe not so much.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had read this and practiced it a decade ago.

Considering that this work was published nearly 25 years back, and that much of what is discussed continues to be needed, I would be tempted to say that it is timeless. However, people are human, so the concepts herein will likely remain in demand as long as humanity exists. The hope remains that this book will be read and the instructions applied to the end that it is no longer needed.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will probably stay off the shelve and stay on my desk for a while. Any book which inspires me to concrete action and gives me ideas to put in place before I’ve even finished definitely deserves 5 stars. I will continue to study this book for a while.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good.

[Kasi Beorchia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of inspiring examples of great leadership in business. The lessons can be applied anywhere though. It is a good book with some great messages.

[Mahin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful, Shows many skill, art of conversation, manners, actions, and authority. Shows the difference between leadership and bossiness.

[Christa]

I choose this book for personal growth. Not sure it helped.

[Vishnu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid book. Focuses exclusively on the private sector though, so dealing with leadership in a pretty narrow context. Still a lot of food for thought.

[Pete H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps not the worst book I've had to read for school but definitely not something I would have willingly read if I had a choice in the matter. Trite and dated at best.

[Don Gubler · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you think a leader always has to take charge read this book. If you think there are other ways to lead choose another book to read.