Warren G. Bennis

The future has no shelf life

— Warren G. Bennis

Trust resides squarely between faith and doubt.

— Warren G. Bennis

One of the worst mistakes is to do nothing.

— Warren G. Bennis

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.

— Warren G. Bennis

Don't over-react to the trouble makers.

— Warren G. Bennis

The manager administers; the leader innovates.

— Warren G. Bennis

“Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing.”

— Warren G. Bennis

Successful leaders are great askers

— Warren G. Bennis

Vision animates, inspires, transforms purpose into action.

— Warren G. Bennis

All great leaders constantly seek new information and new ways of thinking.

— Warren G. Bennis

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

— Warren G. Bennis

Embrace error: Create an atmosphere in which prudent risk taking is strongly encouraged.

— Warren G. Bennis

Ineffective leaders often act on the advice and counsel of the last person they talked to.

— Warren G. Bennis

Around the world, the generals are being ousted, and the poets are taking charge.

— Warren G. Bennis

Growing other leaders from the ranks isn't just the duty of the leader, it's an obligation.

— Warren G. Bennis

The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

— Warren G. Bennis

Leaders wonder about everything, want to learn as much as they can, are willing to take risks, experiment, try new things. They…

— Warren G. Bennis

One of the qualities that all the leaders have is a voracious appetite to learn whatever they do not as yet know…

— Warren G. Bennis

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

— Warren G. Bennis

Without a terrific leader, you're not going to have a Great Group. But it is also true that you're not going to…

— Warren G. Bennis

Understand the "Gretzky Factor": Cultivate an instinct, a "touch", call it what you will, that enables you to know both where the…

— Warren G. Bennis

Almost without exception, members of great groups see themselves as winning underdogs, as a feisty David hurling fresh ideas at a big,…

— Warren G. Bennis

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

— Warren G. Bennis

The learning person looks forward to failure or mistakes. The worst problem in leadership is basically early success.

— Warren G. Bennis

Possess the "Nobel Factor": Possess and constantly demonstrate optimism, faith, and hope. They create choices. I am reminded of an ancient Chinese…

— Warren G. Bennis

Great groups give the lie to the remarkably persistent but incorrect notion that successful organizations are the lengthened shadow of a great…

— Warren G. Bennis

“As one Great Group after another has shown, talented people don’t need fancy facilities. It sometimes seems that any old garage will…

— Warren G. Bennis

Emotional intelligence, more than any other factor, more than I.Q. or expertise, accounts for 85% to 90% of success at work... I.Q.…

— Warren G. Bennis

The capacity for "uncontaminated wonder," ultimately, is what distinguishes the successful from the ordinary, the happily engaged players of whatever era from…

— Warren G. Bennis

What makes a good follower? The single most important characteristic may well be a willingness to tell the truth. In a world…

— Warren G. Bennis

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or…

— Warren G. Bennis

Walt Disney, of all people, did a good job of describing his own netony. "People who have worked with me say I…

— Warren G. Bennis

Organizations have to come to grips with the fact that tests of adaptive capability aren't always pleasant. Learning can be a powerful…

— Warren G. Bennis

“Communities based on merit and passion are rare, and people who have been in them never forget them. And then there is…

— Warren G. Bennis

In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and conflicting demands, often under great time pressure, leaders must make decisions and take effective actions…

— Warren G. Bennis

Leading with character gives the wise leader clear-cut advantages. They are easier to trust and follow; they honor commitments and promises; their…

— Warren G. Bennis

We must move from ... the primacy of technology toward considerations of social justice and equity, from the dictates of organizational convenience…

— Warren G. Bennis

The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the…

— Warren G. Bennis

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crucible as "a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or…

— Warren G. Bennis

“Neoteny is more than retaining a youthful appearance, although that is often part of it. Neoteny is the retention of all those…

— Warren G. Bennis