Learning To Lead: A Workbook On Becoming A Leader, Updated Edition (Paperback)

by Warren Bennis (Author), Joan Goldsmith (Author) "The stakes for the leaders of our future are rising rapidly and daily..." (more)
Key Phrases: personal leadership agenda, leadership myths, unconscious conspiracy, Warren Bennis, New York, Chart of Distinctions (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
. This stand-alone workbook extends that lesson by teaching managers how they can make themselves into leaders. Using a thorough self-assessment section and more than 30 one-day skill-building exercises, it walks readers through the basics of leadership.

About the Author

Warren Bennis is Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and a consultant to multinational companies and governments around the world. He also chairs the Advisory Board of the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University. He is author of more than thirty books and dozens of other articles on leadership, including Managing the Dream, Organizing Genius, and Learning to Lead. He lives in Santa Monica, California. Warren Bennis is Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California. One of the nation’s most respected executive consultants, he has advised four presidents and written or edited over twenty books, including the business bestsellers On Becoming a Leader and Organizing Genius. Joan Goldsmith is a management consultant based in Santa Monica. She has worked with Showtime Networks, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Pacific Bell, and others. Formerly on the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she is coauthor with Kenneth Cloke of Thank God It’s Monday! 14 Values We Need to Humanize the Way We Work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; Updated edition (September 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201311402
• ISBN-13: 978-0201311402
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #236,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Life-Long Exploration of Self, May 7, 2001

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The late Vince Lombardi once asserted that leaders are made -- they are not born. "And they are made just like anything else that has ever been made in this country -- by hard effort and that's the price we all have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal." Bennis and Goldsmith agree. Theirs is literally a WORK book. The material is organized within these seven chapters:

Leadership for a Successful Future ["Followers, who are often partners in an endeavor, look to leaders to interpret reality, explain the present, and paint a picture of the future."]

How to Use This Workbook ["We are introducing a different path to leadership development -- one that has twists and turns. It may not take a reader on a direct route to a finite end-place."]

The Leadership Crisis ["Where have all the leaders gone?...In the past two decades, there has been a high turnover, an appalling mortality -- both occupational and actuarial -- among leaders."]

Knowing Yourself ["If we have a clear awareness of who we are, we can develop the habit of staying tuned to what we say and do."]

NOTE: Bennis and Goldsmith agree with Shakespeare's Polonius ("To thine ownself be true") as does James O'Toole who, in The Executive's Compass and in Leading Change, has much of value to say on the subject of congruence of values and behavior.

Creating and Communicating a Vision ["Vision animates, inspirits, and transforms purpose into action."]

Managing Trust Through Integrity ["The leader has a vision for the organization that is clear, attractive, and attainable....has unconditional empathy for for those who live in the organization.....the leader's positions are consistent....and the leader's integrity is unquestionable."]

Realizing Intention Through Action [Those who would be leaders "need to know where you begin and where you want to go....flesh out those routes, elaborate them, revise them, and map them, complete with possible pitfalls and traps as well as rewards"....also you must "look to see if the direct route is the most sound, or whether you should make a more circuitous approach....you plan your resources and identify your allies....examine your map objectively, as if you were not its maker....Finally, when you have finished the strategy, you set out to climb the mountain."]

The authors share a wealth of their own observations and suggestions in each of the seven chapters. What sets this book apart from others which address similar subjects is its inclusion of dozens of exercises for the reader to complete within the (WORK) book. The reader is also provided with "Books on Leadership: An Annotated Bibliography" prepared by Emmeline de Pillis, Anthony Khoo, and Hyepin Im. To their excellent suggestions I would add Tichy's The Leadership Engine because, as Goldsmith observes, "Our book proposes that in our world of startling changes and overwhelming challenges, leadership is needed at every level and in every nook and corner of our organizations. We can only have the leadership we need if individuals are encouraged, motivated and supported to create themselves as leaders on a day by day basis." I also recommend Fitz-enz's The ROI of Human Capital because, without effective leadership, no organization can possibly derive greatest benefit from its most valuable asset. Again quoting Goldsmith, "The insights, theories, exercises, and tools included within our book guide leadership explorations and discoveries by staff, managers and executives at all levels of their organizations and in all areas of their lives."

For whom will this excellent book be most helpful? First, for senior-level executives who are already leaders of others and feel the need for what could perhaps be called a "tune-up" of basic principles. Also, for those who aspire to be leaders and are willing and able to complete the exercises with both rigor and (more importantly) candor. Finally, for students of business now in preparation for careers which may soon begin. (This book would be an excellent holiday or graduation gift.) Bennis and Goldsmith conclude as follows: "We hope you will continue to develop what you have begun in the learning partnership we have created here together. We look forward to knowing you more directly in the future. Empowerment leads to quality and ultimately to love of ourselves, of our work, and of life. More we cannot wish you." Nor can I.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A straight-forward look at Leadership, August 15, 2000

By	Steven K Wolcott (Shepherdstown, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader (People Skills for Professionals) (Paperback)

Clarity. Simple, straight-forward, clarity. In the hustle and jive of selling leadership, this book stands out. As the authors point out, leadership has become a growth industry. In our hunger for answers to increasingly complex problems, we consume vast quantities of pretty unsubstantial literature on leadership. "Learning to Lead" brings a clarity to the matter of leadership development that is refreshing. The authors don't try to boil a complex subject down to aphorisms, but they do succeed in clarifying the route to developing leadership. They focus their efforts on exercises that will test and reinforce an aspiring leaders ability to know themselves, to create and communicate a vision, to maintain trust through integrity (couldn't a few of our leaders use that!) and realizing intention through action. Simple. Clear. Straightforward.

The exercises, although mostly paper and pencil activities that anyone could do without cooperating partners, are appropriate for the format of the book. Again they seek to clarify our vision of what we can do, even if we are not Gandhi, Martin Luthor King or Napoleon, to exercise leadership in our lives and our communities. This book is both inspirational and immanently practical. I awarded this book only 4 stars simply for the lack of graphics and visual content. It could have been more effective if it had been developed with visual learners in mind.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Leadership Guru Does It Again!, July 11, 2001

By A Customer

This is a book which is incredibly hands on and easy to access. Bennis focuses on the essentials of leadership and unlike so many others, he gives concrete tangible steps for people to take to help them discover their own leadership potential. It is useful for individuals and for groups. It has application for people from all walks of life, at all stages of life and at all stages of personal development!