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An Invented Life: Reflections On Leadership And Change

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Bennis calls this a "brief intellectual autobiography" in the first chapter, but adds quickly that in looking back it seemed more biographical in that he seemed to be writing of someone other than himself. For an educator he has a surprising confession, "I didn't much like school, and barely remember most of my teachers" he tells us.

He describes his college days, followed by graduate school. After obtaining his own education he entered academe on the other side of the desk and eventually got into administration, becoming a college president.

At this point in the book he segues from personal reflection to his thoughts on larger issues. We've all been victims of bureaucracy at some point. Hopefully he is right in predicting this dysfunctional managerial system is coming to an end.

In the next couple of chapters he hones in on two of his areas of expertise, leadership competencies and managing the dream. He continues on with his thoughts on various other matters. Overall it is interesting to see his perception on his own life and his thoughts on broader matters.

Warren Bennis is a prolific writer on leadership, having penned Leaders and On Becoming a Leader amongst other books. In this books, he turns inward reflecting on the lessons involved in analyzing his own life. He willingly covers the negative experiences in his life, including an experience where he offered a partial resignation in protest of administrative policy.

This is not a good first book on either the author, or leadership, but is very valuable for someone already familiar with Warren's work. It'll add context to his ideas, and show how he tried to apply them throughout his life. Certainly worth the time to read it.