HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER
Title: Warren Bennis: Still Surprised
Competency: leadership
Who benefits: leaders, leader wannabees, biography buffs
Consultant Usage: might not make you a better consultant, but it’s a feel good read in your field
What’s it about? I am feeling lazy today, so I am going to let my friend BJ Gallagher do most of my post for me.
Before I let her take over, just let me set the stage in a minimalist fashion: When I think of who is important to understanding and communicating what the business world and organizations in general are all about, there is one man center stage. Peter Drucker. Surrounding him and just behind on center stage are four or five others who have made enormous and lasting contributions.
Just behind Peter in that subset known as leadership, the leader (only mild humor intended) is Warren Bennis. The man has lived leadership. He has failed at leadership. And he has learned, written and taught those of us who were smart enough to pay attention, what leadership is really all about.
He now has published his memoir: Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership. It is everything a book should be. If the topic is of any interest, get this book!
Now let my friend BJ take over. No one tells a story like BJ and her story about Warren Bennis in a recent Huffington Post Blog is a special treat and worthy of a read even if you never heard of Warren Bennis. Here is what she said:
“Who the heck is Warren Bennis?” I muttered to no one in particular. The year was 1980 and I was headed back to my office at USC after having lunch with Marilyn Ferguson, author of The Aquarian Conspiracy. Several times during the course of our lunch meeting, Marilyn had quoted Warren Bennis. “Warren Bennis says this…” or “According to Warren Bennis…,” she said repeatedly.
She wasn’t the only one. People all across campus were quoting Warren Bennis. I’d been at the University of Southern California since 1974 – first as an undergrad, then as a grad student, and finally on staff as a program administrator – and thought I knew pretty much everyone. But suddenly, people were buzzing about this guy Warren Bennis.
When I got back to my office I called the campus operator and asked for Warren Bennis’s office. She gave me the number for future reference and put me through to his office at the business school. He answered his own phone.
“Hi there,” I said. “My name is BJ Gallagher and I work for the College of Continuing Education. You don’t know me but I’d like to buy you lunch at the faculty center one day next week.”
“Sure,” Bennis chuckled. “Any particular agenda for the lunch meeting?”
“Well, yes,” I replied. “Everywhere I go lately, people are quoting you. So clearly you’re famous but I don’t know why. I thought I’d invite you to lunch and find out.”
He laughed heartily, and then gave me a date that worked for him.
We met at the faculty center on the appointed day and were ushered to our table. We ordered our food and once that was out of the way, I got down to business.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet with me,” I began. “So now tell me why you’re famous. I know that you were the president of the University of Cincinnati, but that’s not enough to have people quoting you all the time. So… why are you famous?”
A bemused smile animated his handsome face and his Paul Newman blue eyes twinkled mischievously as he paused for a moment before answering. Then he leaned in, and with a conspiratorial tone, replied, “Oh, I think you know.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. The quest to find out what made this guy so special wasn’t going to be as easy as I had thought, but I could tell it was going to be a fun lunch – and interesting. There was something about his presence, his energy, his charisma, that made people take notice when he walked into a room. I knew right then and there that Warren Bennis was more than just another pretty face.
Fast-forward thirty years…
If you want to finish the article, click here: Warren Bennis: Still Surprised.
Catch you later.
[tags]leadership, bennis, warren bennis, gallagher, bj gallagher, huffingtonpost.com, the huffington post, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.
