Warren Bennis Browse All Authors Top 29 quotes by Warren Bennis Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just on the bottom line. Warren Bennis The factory of the future will have two employees a man and a dog. The man's job will be to feed the dog. The dog's job will be to prevent the man from touching any of the automated equipment. 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 Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them. Warren Bennis People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out. Warren Bennis There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish. Warren Bennis Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. 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 Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary. Warren Bennis Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning. Warren Bennis Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard. Warren Bennis Our tendency to create heroes rarely jibes with the reality that most nontrivial problems require collective solutions. 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. Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led. Warren Bennis You need people who can walk their companies into the future rather than back them into the future. Warren Bennis Success in management requires learning as fast as the world is changing. Warren Bennis learning management success world The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. Warren Bennis manager horizon eye leader Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right. Warren Bennis do-the-right-thing who things people Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality. Warren Bennis place vision reality people The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Warren Bennis quo status manager leader challenges Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult. Warren Bennis yourself difficult leader simple
