Warren Bennis quotes - page 2

Warren Bennis was an American scholar, organizational consultant, and author widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of leadership studies. His influential work helped shape modern understanding of leadership, emphasizing authenticity and emotional intelligence. He inspired generations of leaders and is remembered as a foundational figure in leadership development. Here are 46 of his quotes:

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.

Warren Bennis

Cicero talks, and people marvel; Ceasar talks and people march.

Warren Bennis

Leaders encourage reflective backtalk. Norbert Wiener told me, "I never know what I say until I hear the response.” Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

Warren Bennis

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Warren Bennis

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born - that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. And the way we become leaders is by learning about leadership through life and job experiences, not with university degrees.

Warren Bennis

Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality.

Warren Bennis

I wanted the influence. In the end I wasn't very good at being a president. I looked out of the window and thought that the man cutting the lawn actually seemed to have more control over what he was doing.

Warren Bennis

Leadership has become a heavy industry. Concern and interest about leadership development is no longer an American phenomenon. It is truly global. Though I will probably be in less demand, I wanted to move on.

Warren Bennis

Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

Warren Bennis

The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom--as something they thought was almost a necessity. It's as if at that moment the iron entered their soul that moment created the resilience that leaders need.

Warren Bennis

Too many companies believe people are interchangeable. Truly gifted people never are. They have unique talents. Such people cannot be forced into roles they are not suited for, nor should they be. Effective leaders allow great people to do the work they were born to do.

Warren Bennis

Make sure you have someone in your life from whom you can get reflective feedback.

Warren Bennis

What makes a good follower? The single most important characteristic may well be a willingness to tell the truth. In a world of growing complexity leaders are increasingly dependent on their subordinates for good information, whether the leaders want to hear it or not. Followers who tell the truth and leaders who listen to it are an unbeatable combination.

Warren Bennis

Leaders are people who believe so passionately that they can seduce other people into sharing their dream.

Warren Bennis

Great Groups need to know that the person at the top will fight like a tiger for them.

Warren Bennis

Companies which get misled by their own success are sure to be blind sided.

Warren Bennis

... power is the basic energy needed to initiate and sustain action or, to put it another way, the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it. Leadership is the wise use of this power Transformative leadership.

Warren Bennis

...Once you recognize, or admit, that your primary goal is to fully express yourself, you will find the means to achieve the rest of your goals.

Warren Bennis