Recently I listened to a wonderful 10 minute HBR interview with 85-year old leadership guru Warren Bennis. Opening question: What are two or three of the characteristics of really great leaders?
1. Great leaders build great teams. “You can’t win this contest without a lot of help. It ain’t just one man.”
2. Great leaders have good judgment. Great leaders have the ability to select people who have the capacity to get things done AND play well with others in the sandbox.
I am impressed with Warren’s insights into the crucible of war and the crucible of age, sacrifice, generosity, respect and what he calls “leadership grace.”
Warren’s final question was: “If you want to be a great leader, you need to….”
How would you finish that sentence?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Stephanie Nannen introduced me to your blog and I have really benefitted from reading it. When I tried to access the HBR interview of Warren Bennis the link took me to a page where I was being redirected and I did not know how to find the interview. Can you help me know how to access it? Thanks so much.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for letting me know about the broken link. I checked the link. I got the same response you did and I’m not sure what happened. I’ll edit my post to reflect the change. Sorry!
Ken