Resumo de On Becoming A Leader

In the
first section of the book, Bennis sets forth three reasons why he believes
leaders are important. First he argues that the success or failure of an
organization rests on the quality of its leaders. Second, in this turbulent
environment in which we are living, leaders provide a desperately-needed
support system for us. Finally, leaders are the only ones who can restore
integrity and trust to us in an era pervaded by greed, crime and dishonor.
However, despite its obvious importance, leadership is an arduous growth
process and most people fail to reach this level of actualization.
Unfortunately, most of us tend to function on the level of Bennis' example of
"Ed" who is successful at completing tasks and functions at work, but
who is inept at leading others. The "Eds" of the world fail to flourish
as leaders because they lack several key qualities: passion, integrity, trust,
curiosity, daring and a guiding vision (p. 39-41). Often, these qualities are
cultivated, not in expensive leadership seminars, but in crucibles of stress,
hardship and adversity.

In the next
section of his book, Bennis presents a rather drawn-out portrayal of the
necessity of self-knowledge for future leaders. Using mini-biographical
sketches of contemporary leader, the author contends that self-knowledge is
best achieved by (1) being your own best teacher,(2) accepting responsibility
for your actions, (3) learning whatever you set out to learn, and (4)
understanding yourself through reflection (p. 56). Only by knowing oneself can
successful leaders come to terms with their strengths and weaknesses. In a
similar fashion, to become a true leader, one must know the world as well as
one knows one's self' (p. 74). Here, Bennis stresses the benefits of expanding
the boundaries of our world by traveling to other countries and learning new
cultures as a means of cultivating respect for diversity. Finally, Bennis
underscores the importance of modeling after mentors and learning through
adversity to increase the mental and physical boundaries that too often stifle
our leadership capabilities.

In the
remainder of the book, Bennis likens leadership skills with the acquisition of
good people skills. Reminiscent of early human relations
literature, Bennis argues that outstanding leaders are able to express concern
and respect for fellow human beings. Such qualities as human sensitivity,
tact, compassion, and diplomacy set good leaders apart (p. 131). More
importantly, outstanding leaders exercise genuine empathy when working with
colleagues and other leaders. Regarding empathy, Bennis remarks, I've known
leaders who have had none of it and nevertheless were leaders, but those who
have had that quality have moved and inspired me more (p. 131). Leaders
have the main functioning of supporting those whom they lead whether through
the use of empathetic communication or through other means. According to
Bennis, only leaders who have these qualities can be expected to pave the way
for America's future leaders.

Finally,
while Bennis stresses that all human beings have the ability to lead, his
selection of outstanding leaders is fairly elitist. Rather than selecting
leaders from across the continuum, On Becoming a leader privileges high-ranking
leaders in large corporate and governmental positions. Bennis' selection of
leaders reads like a Who's Who list of leadership nobility, saturated with
chief executive officers, lawyers, movie directors and presidents. Also,
although Bennis encourages readers to be culturally diverse through travel and
experimentation, his list of leaders is composed primarily of leaders from the
United States. Readers hoping to find examples and sketches of successful
leaders from other counties will be disappointed in the lack of intercultural
examples provided by Bennis.

Despite
these minor downfalls, I believe On Becoming a Leader to be an insightful and
innoveparture from traditional studies of leadership. Bennis' approach
of leadership by looking around is a practical application for
incorporating leadership skills in all aspects of life. At least to a certain
degree, modeling is an important socialization process in which we acquire
leadership skills. Through the use of biographical vignettes, Bennis provides
captivating portraits of leadership realization. In this way, he encourages
readers to emulate these human success stories. In the process. Bennis adds
authenticity to his writing by incorporating quotes and anecdotes of those
leaders he has selected for analysis.

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