Top 136 Quotes & Sayings by Warren G. Bennis - Page 3

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crucible as "a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces; a severe test of patience or belief; a vessel for melting material at high temperatures." A crucible was the vessel in which medieval alchemists attempted to turn base metals into gold. That the alchemists inevitably failed in their audacious attempts doesn't denigrate the power of the crucible as a metaphor for the circumstances that cause an individual to be utterly transformed.

This duality, making yourself better while teaching and developing others' judgment capabilities, is the key to leadership that is both productive and principled.

The crucible is a dividing line, a turning point, and those who have gone through it feel they are very different from the way they were before. Believing that they have been transformed or have transformed themselves, those who survive the crucible (and many don't) are more confident, more willing to take future risks. That new self-confidence is grounded in the belief that he or she has done something hard and done it well.

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

If I were to give off-the-cuff advice to anyone trying to institute change, I would say, "How clear is the metaphor?"

Organizations have to come to grips with the fact that tests of adaptive capability aren't always pleasant. Learning can be a powerful emotional event, and organizations have to be cognizant of that. They must understand that those who complete high-quality executive education programs are going to see the organization with fresh eyes after they return. Those who re-enter the workplace filled with new enthusiasm and new ideas often find a chilly response on the part of their supervisors.

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.

A passion for continual learning, a refined, discerning ear for the moral and ethical consequences of their actions, and an understanding of the purposes of work and human organisations

Judgment without character is expediency... or worse.

Our tendency to create heroes rarely jibes with the reality that most nontrivial problems require collective solutions.

Neotony is a metaphor for the quality of life - the gift - that keeps the fortunate of whatever age focused on all the marvelous undiscovered things to come.

First and foremost, effective leaders must continuously strive to make themselves smarter and better at making judgments.

The opposite of hope is despair, and when we despair, it is because we feel there are no choices.

People who know what they want and why they want it, and have the skills to communicate that to others in a way that gains support

See the long view: By all means "plant the corn, milk the cows, and feed the horses" but always keep the eventual "harvest" in mind.

What job is worth the enormous psychic cost of following a leader who values loyalty in the narrowest sense.