Quotes from Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.

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.

Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them

The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.

Companies which get misled by their own success are sure to be blind sided.

Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard.

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.

Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.

Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.

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.

You need people who can walk their companies into the future rather than back them into the future.

No leader can create sustainable, significant change without a reservoir of good will. Without that, you always tend to compromise with failure.

Government is like an onion. To understand it, you have to peel through many different layers. Most outsiders never get beyond the first or second layer.

Just as no great painting has ever been created by a committee, no great vision has ever emerged from the herd.

The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.

The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

Recognize and respect mutual self-interests, then build creative collaborations to serve them.

Effective leaders make a full commitment to be a learner, to keep increasing and nourishing their knowledge and wisdom.

Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born.

Leaders learn by leading, and they learn bestby leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.