The Book

On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis

Bennis here deplores what he considers a dearth of leadership in the world. Although he provides solid, practical guidance in how to fill this vacuum, his philosophically and psychologically rich volume seeks primarily to define leadership–which, in his view, requires self-knowledge and clear personal goals.

Opinion on the book

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it’s an easy read but the ideas of the author were very interesting and on point – although you may sometimes agree or disagree upon some subjects.

The Book in One Sentence

Leaders are made, not born. The only question is : will you step up ?

Quotes

“”it is not enough for a leader to do things right, he must do the right thing”

“Leaders learn from others, but are not made by others.”

Notes

# What is a leader ?

In the author’s opinion’s, leaders are characters who are not interested in proving themselves but want above all to be able to express themselves fully. For him becoming a leader is the act of becoming more and more your true self. Often people say “I can’t lead” but they misunderstand leading for managing.

It ‘s not, there’s as many type of leader as there are people in the world. Leading is expression.

# How to become one

The author then gives us an exhaustive list of what he considers to be the common traits of leaders, among which :

- life-long learning and curiosity : leaders read, a lot

- a dream, a vision that goes beyond them and inspire others

- a personal integrity to his values and vision, which often makes the leader somehow ‘original’ because he doesn’t care about fitting in

- ” Using the context of your life, rather than surrendering to it”

Why you should (or should not) buy that book

If you like what you’ve read so far then it might be worth reading the entire book – especially for the part about becoming a leader.

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~Thomas

 

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What about you? Have you read that book? What did you think of it?