Chief Executive
Boards
International
We Share Ideas
Leaders:
Strategies for Taking Charge
by
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus
We Share Ideas
I. Six Important Considerations
Concerning Leadership
A.
Leadership is about character
1. Most leaders who are derailed are derailed by
lack of good judgment or poor character and not
by poor technical knowledge, poor people skills
or poor track record
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I. Six Important Considerations
Concerning Leadership
B.
Leaders must be instrumental in creating a social
architecture capable of generating intellectual
capital
1. Organizations, especially today, are about
ideas, innovation, imagination, creativity —
intellectual capital
2. Leaders need to create structure that releases
brain power
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I. Six Important Considerations
Concerning Leadership
C.
D.
Leaders have a strong determination to achieve a
goal or realize a vision
1. The purpose has to communicate meaning and
relevance to the followers — or else it is
meaningless
The capacity to generate and sustain trust is the
central ingredient in leadership
1. Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose
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I. Six Important Considerations
Concerning Leadership
E.
Leaders have an uncanny way of enrolling people
in their vision through their optimism
1. They believe they can change the world
2. Leaders are “dealers in hope”: Confucius
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I. Six Important Considerations
Concerning Leadership
F.
Leaders have a bias towards action that results in
success
1. Leaders translate vision and purpose into reality
2. “You miss one hundred percent of the shots you
don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky
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II. The Context of Leadership Today
A.
Commitment
1. The challenge of commitment
a. Fewer than 1 out of every 4 job holders say
they are working at full potential
b. One half say they do not put effort into their
job over and above what is required to hold
their job
c. 75 percent say they could be significantly
more effective than they are
d. 6 out of 10 Americans say they do not
work as hard as they used to
2. Leaders have failed to inspire workers through
empowerment
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II. The Context of Leadership Today
B.
C.
Complexity
1. The problems of organizations are increasingly
complex
Credibility
1. The credibility of leaders is being challenged
more and more
a. “Impeach someone” bumper sticker
b. “Don’t vote. It will only encourage them.”
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III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
Industrial society
We Share Ideas
To
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
Industrial society
We Share Ideas
To
Information society
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
Industrial society
Forced technology
We Share Ideas
To
Information society
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
Networking
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
Networking
North
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
Networking
North
South
We Share Ideas
III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
Networking
North
South
Either/or
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III. New Paradigms Are Arising
A.
10 “mega trends” according to John Naisbitt
From
To
Industrial society
Information society
Forced technology
High tech/High touch
National economy
Global economy
Short term
Long term
Centralization
Decentralization
Institutional help
Self-help
Representative democracy
Participatory democracy
Hierarchies
Networking
North
South
Either/or
Multiple options
We Share Ideas
IV. Management vs. Leadership
A.
B.
C.
Management
1. To bring about
2. To accomplish
3. To have charge of or responsibility for
4. To conduct
Leadership
1. Influencing
2. Guiding in direction, course, action, opinion
Managers are people who do things right -Leaders are people who do the right thing
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V. Wall Street Journal Ad by
United Technologies Corporation
A.
B.
C.
People don’t want to be managed,
they want to be led
Whoever heard of a world manager?
World leader, yes
If you want to manage someone, manage yourself
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VI. Study of 90 Successful Leaders
in Private and Government Sectors
A.
A wide variety of leaders
1. Some right-brained and some left brained
2. Some tall, some short
3. Some fat, some thin
4. Some articulate, some inarticulate
5. Some assertive, some retiring
6. Some dressed for success, some dressed for
failure
7. Some participative, some autocratic
a. One said he believed in “participative fascism”
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
A. Strategy I: Attention through vision
1. All 90 leaders who were interviewed had a
highly focused agenda
a. They had a clear vision and were able to
communicate that vision
b. They could convince their followers that the
goal and vision were attainable
2. Leadership is a transaction -- a transaction
between leaders and followers
a. Neither could exist without the other
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
B. Strategy II: Meaning through communication
1. The management of meaning, mastery of
communication, is inseparable from effective
leadership
2. Leaders communicate “know why” rather than
“know how”
C. Strategy III: Trust through positioning
1. Trust implies accountability, predictability and
reliability
2. Leaders are relentless in their quest of their vision
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
3. Leaders are persistent -- Calvin Coolidge said:
• Nothing in the world can take the place of
persistence
• Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with great talent
• Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost
a proverb
• Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts
• Persistence, determination alone are
omnipotent
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
4. Positioning is the set of actions necessary to
implement the vision of the leader
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
D. Strategy IV: The deployment of self
through positive self-regard
1. Recognizing strengths and compensating for
weaknesses is the first step in achieving
positive self-regard
a. Leaders usually know what they are good at
from an early age
2. The second element in positive self-regard is
the nurturing of skills with discipline
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VII. Four Areas of Competency That
All Those Leaders Who Were
Studied Exhibited
3. The third element in positive self-regard is the
fit between personal strengths and
organizational requirements
a. Leaders know when there is no fit
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VIII. Leaders Have Emotional
Wisdom
1. The ability to accept people as they are,
not as you would like them to be
2. The capacity to approach relationships
and problems in terms of the present
rather than the past
3. The ability to treat those who are close
to you with the same courteous
attention that you extend to strangers
and casual acquaintances
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VIII. Leaders Have Emotional
Wisdom
4. The ability to trust others, even if the risk
seems great
5. The ability to do without constant
approval and recognition from others
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IX. Leaders Don’t Fear Failure
A. They use synonyms such as mistake, glitch,
false start, setback and error
1. Leaders welcome mistakes as learning
opportunities
2. “Whenever I make a bum decision, I just
go out and make another one.”
B. The only time Karl Wallenda feared falling
from the high wire, he fell to his death
1. His goal that day was not to walk the
wire, but rather to not fall
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IX. Leaders Don’t Fear Failure
C. When Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, was
asked if he was going to fire an executive
who had just lost $10 million on a project,
he said: “You can’t be serious. We’ve just
spent $10 million educating him.”
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X. Empowerment
A.
B.
C.
D.
Empowerment does not involve releasing power
Empowerment gives followers an opportunity to
develop
Empowerment gives followers a sense of family
and community
Empowerment creates a culture of fun
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XI. Focusing Attention: Gaining
Attention
A.
B.
Vision cannot be established in an organization by
edict, or by the exercise of power or coercion
1. It is more an act of persuasion
Leaders often communicate vision by using
metaphors
1. A chicken in every pot
2. Reach out and touch someone
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XI. Focusing Attention: Gaining
Attention
C.
D.
Leaders communicate their vision by consistently
acting on it and personifying it
Followers must feel they see the vision
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Organizational Alignment
Cost
Wal-Mart
Quality
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Service
Organizational Alignment
Cost
Target
Quality
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Service
Organizational Alignment
Cost
K-Mart
Quality
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Service
Question
How effectively and consistently is my
organization aligned with my vision?
OR
How could I be more effective and
consistent at defining, articulating and
communicating my vision to my
organization?
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XII. Four Strategies Leaders Use to
Position Their Organization
A.
B.
Reactive
1. Leaders wait for change and react — after
the fact
Change the internal environment
1. Leaders develop effective forecasting
procedures to anticipate change and
then “proact” rather than react
a. The toy industry uses orders received from
January to March as forecasts of Christmas
sales.
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XII. Four Strategies Leaders Use to
Position Their Organization
C.
Change the external environment
1. Leaders anticipating change act upon the
environment itself to make the change
congenial to their needs.
a. This can be done through advertising,
publicity, lobbying efforts, etc.
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XII. Four Strategies Leaders Use to
Position Their Organization
D.
Establish a new linkage between the external and
internal environments
1. This can be done by establishing new linkages
through vertical integration, mergers and
acquisitions, or innovative systems design
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XIII. Personal Qualities Needed for
Leaders
A.
When the 90 leaders interviewed were asked what
personal qualities were needed to be a leader they
never mentioned charisma, dressing for success or
time management.
They mentioned :
1. persistence and self-knowledge
2. a willingness to take risks and accept losses
3. commitment, consistency, challenge
4. a desire to learn
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XIV. Myths of Leadership
A.
B.
C.
Leadership is a rare skill
1. Everyone has some leadership skills
Leaders are born, not made
1. Although it is not easy to learn to be a
leader, the skills are learnable
Leaders are charismatic
1. Of the 90 leaders studied, few were
charismatic
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XIV. Myths of Leadership
D.
Leadership exists only at the top of an organization
1. More and more large organizations are creating
small, relatively autonomous units that require
leaders
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Question
Who are my “subordinate leaders?
AND
How effectively do they lead?
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XIV. Myths of Leadership
E.
The leader controls, directs, prods, manipulates
1. Leadership is not so much the exercise of power
itself as the empowerment of others
2. Leaders teach followers how good they are
a. Pulling vs. Pushing
b. Inspiring vs. Ordering
c. Creating achievable, challenging & inspiring
expectations
d. Rewarding progress
e. Enabling people to use their own initiative and
experiences
We Share Ideas
Organizational Movement
Increase “Pull” and reduce Friction by:
Inspiring
Rewarding
Enabling
Push
Pull
Friction
Friction
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OR
Organizational Movement
Increase “Pull” and reduce Friction by:
Inspiring
Rewarding
Enabling
Push
Pull
Friction
Friction
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OR
Move in
smaller pieces
Question
How can I increase “Pull”
OR
reduce “Friction”
in my organization?
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XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
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XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
We Share Ideas
To…
Leaders at every level,
fewer managers
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
Leading by Goal-setting;
e.g., near-term profits, ROI
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To…
Leaders at every level,
fewer managers
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
To…
Leaders at every level,
fewer managers
Leading by Goal-setting;
Leading by vision—
e.g., near-term profits, ROI creating new directions for
long-term business growth
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
To…
Leaders at every level,
fewer managers
Leading by Goal-setting;
Leading by vision—
e.g., near-term profits, ROI creating new directions for
long-term business growth
Downsizing, benchmarking
for low cost, high quality
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Few leaders, mainly at the
top; many managers
To…
Leaders at every level,
fewer managers
Leading by Goal-setting;
Leading by vision—
e.g., near-term profits, ROI creating new directions for
long-term business growth
Downsizing, benchmarking Also creating domains of
for low cost, high quality
uniqueness, distinctive
competencies
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Reactive/adaptive to
change
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XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Reactive/adaptive to
change
We Share Ideas
To…
Anticipative/futurescreative
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Reactive/adaptive to
change
Designer of hierarchical
organizations
We Share Ideas
To…
Anticipative/futurescreative
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
To…
Reactive/adaptive to
change
Anticipative/futurescreative
Designer of hierarchical
organizations
Designer of flatter,
distributed, more collegial
organizations; leader as
social architect
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
To…
Reactive/adaptive to
change
Anticipative/futurescreative
Designer of hierarchical
organizations
Designer of flatter,
distributed, more collegial
organizations; leader as
social architect
Directing and supervising
individuals
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
To…
Reactive/adaptive to
change
Anticipative/futurescreative
Designer of hierarchical
organizations
Designer of flatter,
distributed, more collegial
organizations; leader as
social architect
Directing and supervising
individuals
Empowering and inspiring
individuals, but also
facilitating teamwork
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Information held by few
decision makers
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XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Information held by few
decision makers
We Share Ideas
To…
Information shared with
many, both internally and
with outside partners
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Information held by few
decision makers
Leader as boss, controlling
processes and behaviors
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To…
Information shared with
many, both internally and
with outside partners
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Information held by few
decision makers
To…
Information shared with
many, both internally and
with outside partners
Leader as boss, controlling Leader as coach, creating
processes and behaviors
learning organizations
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XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Leader as stabilizer,
balancing conflicting
demands and maintaining
the culture
We Share Ideas
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Leader as stabilizer,
balancing conflicting
demands and maintaining
the culture
We Share Ideas
To…
Leader as change agent,
creating agenda for
change, balancing risks
and evolving the culture
and the technology base
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Leader as stabilizer,
balancing conflicting
demands and maintaining
the culture
Leader responsible for
developing good managers
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To…
Leader as change agent,
creating agenda for
change, balancing risks
and evolving the culture
and the technology base
XV. Likely Model of Twenty-FirstCentury Leadership
From
Leader as stabilizer,
balancing conflicting
demands and maintaining
the culture
To…
Leader as change agent,
creating agenda for
change, balancing risks
and evolving the culture
and the technology base
Leader responsible for
Leader also responsible for
developing good managers developing future leaders,
serving as leader of
leaders
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Question
How effectively (and how quickly) are
we moving toward a 21st-Century
model of leadership?
We Share Ideas
Leaders:
Strategies for Taking Charge
by
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus
We Share Ideas