Chapter 14 of “On Becoming Leader” focuses on a leader’s knowledge of the world and places a lot of emphasis on their knowledge of the world as a key driver of success. Something that caught my interest in this chapter was Bennis’ statement on Universities. Bennis’ states that Universities have taught people how to do and not how to be. This is ironic considering that Industry Professionals state college students do not come prepared with practical experience “how to do” needed to perform a job well. This statement is also in complete contradiction on what Bennis mentioned in the Chapter 3.
Should Universities be responsible for teaching students how to be or how to do? Is this the primary purpose of a University? In my opinion Universities do a great job teaching students how to think, which seems to be and what I believe to be their primary purpose.
