Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership

by Warren Bennis

An intimate look at the founding father of the modern leadership movement Warren Bennis is an acclaimed American scholar, successful organizational consultant and author, and an expert in the field of leadership. His much awaited memoir is filled with insights about the successes and failures from his long and storied life and career. Bennis' life and career have traversed eight decades of first-hand experience with tumultuous episodes of recent history-from Jewish child in a gentile town in the 30's, a young army recruit in the Battle of the Bulge to a college student in the one of the first progressive precursors to the civil rights movement to a patient undergoing daily psychoanalysis for five years, and later a university provost during the Vietnam protests. Reveals the triumphs and struggles of the man who is considered the pioneer in the contemporary field of leadership studies Bennis is the author of 27 books including the bestseller On Becoming a Leader This is first book to examine the extraordinary life of Warren Bennis by the man himself.

Genres: Leadership, Memoir, Business, Biography, Autobiography

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2010

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

[Justin Goldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember hearing the author on a HBR Ideacast a decade ago when this book came out. It is a wonderful thing that Professor Bennis took the time to reflect and write this memoir in the evening of his life. I clearly recall one of the lessons of that podcast and you see it in the book about how great leaders build great teams. He speaks about the crucible of leadership he experienced as a 19 year-old platoon leader in World War II during Battle of the Bulge and he later takes stock the impact of what he learned at the "Benning School for Boys." As a scholar and crucial voice on leadership, the respect of his peers really stood out. “I look at Peter Drucker as the father of management and Warren Bennis as the father of leadership,” William W. George, a professor at the Harvard Business School and a former chief executive of the medical device company Medtronic, during an interview in 2009. He closes the book talking about the "crucible of aging" and he drove home just how precious every moment in life is.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir from Warren Bennis, the leadership guru. I found it interesting and a quick read. I gained some nice nuggets, like making sure you do work that is meaningful and you're passionate about. I actually learned much about aging as Warren is now in his 80s and nearly 90. He still works, but he's doing much more to safeguard his health. Overall a good book.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have read nearly all his work over the many decades. Loved his reflection on how he evolved and how much of his philosophies came to be. Very interesting if you know his work well. Not sure that I would recommend to someone not familiar with his work, it would probably come off pompous and that is not what Dr Bennis intended.

[Loy Machedo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loy Machedo’s Book Review - Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman

Warren Bennis Who?
Born in 1977, being raised as an Indian in the Middle East (Dubai) and reading Self-Help books only a few years ago, I seriously had no idea who Warren Bennis was. However, since his name came up in the Leadership genre, I decided to pick up the book anyways.

So here is a brief intro of Warren Bennis (courtesy Wikipedia).
Warren Gamaliel Bennis (born March 8, 1925) is an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field in the avenue 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.

Now, this being his first book which I got my hands on, I was excited. In fact, even Tom Butler-Bowdon praised his book on Leadership titled “On Becoming A Leader” as among the Top 50 Success Classics of all Time made me want to read his material even more.

But as checked the ratings on amazon, I was confused. “On Becoming a Leader” had only 65 Reviews with an average rating of 3.8. And then to make matters worse, this book highlighted only 11 Reviews with an average rating of 4.5 – which I am sure must have been done by his well-wishers (or by appointed reviewers)

So, I read the book from cover to cover and this is a brief outline of what I have to say about the book:

1) In the 1st Half, Bennis talks about 2 World Wars experiences he had at the age of 19, his years as a Student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the impact of Captain Bessinger, Douglas McGregor and his former wife Lucille Rose, his relocation to Boston area where he continued his education at MIT
2) He discusses his year abroad studying at the London School of Economics, his renewed association with MIT and the intellectual community in Cambridge, his involvement with the National Training Laboratories and its T-groups, the Institute for Management and IMEDE in Lausanne, the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Southern California; also time on the faculties of Harvard and Boston University, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), INSEAD and IMD. He also discusses his service as chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School, as a visiting professor of leadership at the University of Exeter (UK) and as a senior fellow at UCLA's School of Public Policy and Social Research.
3) The current and last years of his life where he takes to what old age does to you and makes you go through.

Parts of the book I loved:
1) The author maintains an informal, almost conversational tone with his reader without seeming disingenuous or self-serving.
2) I was quite surprised that the author had been to IIM Calcutta and stayed in India for a brief period of time.
3) And if there was one chapter I could say I loved the most, it was the ending – the last chapter where he gave an account of what old age does to you. He was unashamed to expose himself as a physically dependent person who was in the last autumn of his life.

Drawbacks to this book:
1) If you do not know who Warren Bennis is or if you are not familiar with the American Culture / Personalities present at that time period, you will surely get lost reading this book.
2) Almost three-quarters of the book is filled with the author’s recollection of his younger days and towards the ending – the harsh realities of the incoming old age. So if you are anything like me, only the last chapter may appeal to you.
3) The book is not a recipe for leadership or management. Neither is it a compelling autobiography. Rather I felt, it was a reflective memoir which the author decided to put up as he was entering the last moments of his life. So, which is why I guess it has not appealed to the readers at large. Personally, I only liked the last few pages. The rest was a total waste.

Moment of Truth
A book with many pages, lots of memories and episodes – which may not appeal to most readers. If you can get your hands to read the last few chapters, that would be enough. Otherwise, the book is a total waste.

Overall Rating
2 out of 10.

Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warren Bennis left us with this highly readable summary of his own development and career, acknowledging his 'luck' in being in several right places at right times, noting the many connections and collaborations he had with others now widely recognized as leaders in many fields, and giving us insights into his own successes and mistakes (and his learnings and recoveries from those mistakes). For anyone involved or interested in organizations - both public and private, successful teams and collaborative initiatives, or an interesting picture of the role played by one of the leading academicians and leadership guru's of our day, this is a worthwhile and engaging read.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually kind of really enjoyed it in the end. I'd never heard of Warren Bennis and didn't know that he was such a big deal in the field of leadership. I liked how humble he appeared and sounded in his book. He had a pretty interesting life as well, and was able to meet and a lot of various interesting people, as well.

[Devin Partlow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Errr what does any of this have to do with being Still Surprised?

Leadership is mentioned throughout the book, but its not the focus, being Still Surprised isn't the focus, its more like an autobiography except his life isn't really the focus either....

[Michael Levitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'll discover in reading Warren's memoir, that he faced some incredible challenges in his career, both professionally and personally. For those of us that have had many challenges, it will resonate well with you.

[Suvendu Mahapatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written. Plain and simple leadership tips scattered throughout the book. Also learned few things about each of the famous people Warren knew during his life time.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read. Couldn't put it down.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This warm, candid memoir from the guy who defined leadership also offers some great advice, such as, "To have a seat at the table, you first have to be in the room."