Entrepreneurial Leadership

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.

In Chapter 3, Bennis talks about knowing yourself. When reading this chapter his points almost seem obvious, but not until you discover his points yourself.

Bennis says that we are often strangers to ourselves. He goes on to say that although leaders are self directed, it is in our relationships that we learn about ourselves. This is a very interesting observation.

Does he mean that we learn who we are by differentiating ourselves from other people or by discovering ourselves with them? I remember a conversation I had with someone on the way home helped me clarify who I am. This person hasn’t realized the impact they had on me and they probably never will. Nonetheless, I now know my core values which have guided me through my short life and will continue to guide me. Differentiating myself from other people has allowed me to connect with them, eventually leading to great relationships. Almost seems like a virtuous circle.

Babson College is home of a new syllabus for values-based leadership, business and entrepreneurism (http://www.givingvoicetovaluesthebook.com/). It includes an inventory (assessment) to help people think about their values.  A link to the assessment is: http://www.babson.edu/faculty/teaching-learning/gvv/Documents/Student/Personal-Professional-Profile_S.pdf

See my comment to Eugene Tasarov about Shoot, Observe, Adjust:  The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey, 1997.

Chapter 2 of Benins’ “On Becoming A Leader” is a great introduction to the essential ingredients of a leader. During the chapter, many of the famous political leaders of the 20th century are referenced in either a positive or negative way. For example former President Bill Clinton is referenced as the Comeback kid, while LBJ is said to have created a great war instead of a Great Society.

In this chapter, Bennis included quotes based on the values of a leader. According to Scientist Mathilde Krim “a value system, beliefs, are important so you know where you stand, but they must be your own value, not someone else’s”. Newspaper Executive Gloria Anderson said “I think we long for people who will stand up for what they believe, even if we don’t agree with them, because we have confidence in such people”.

Values drive a leader in the right direction, whatever that direction may be. Leadership is extremely important during challenging times, therefore values are of the up most importance during challenging times. Without values there is no certainty and challenging times cannot be escaped without having certainty.  So, perhaps it is not a crisis of leadership, but a crisis of values.

Many political leaders today don’t seem to have many values, they are simply interested in staying in power. As long as society keeps breeding political leaders without values, we will continue to have a crisis of leadership.

On Ch2 Bennis tells us that whatever the leadership style or gender, all share a “guiding vision” which allows this leader to be successful regardless any setback or failure. Leaders know exactly their direction and have such great passion that it is easy to share and communicate it to others.

Leaders are inspiration to people and their integrity and honesty are some of the major reason people are so drawn and attracted to them. When a leader believes in something, they do not get distracted or directed in an opposite way.  They earned people’s trusts and have to follow their path.

Being a leader is different from being a manager. A leader masters his context and develops it while the manager just surrenders to it.

I find inspirational that Bennis says that leaders are self made and invent themselves by developing character and vision. We often tend to associate politicians and leaders, maybe because that’s what the politician should really be about. But unless he/she reinvent him/herself, a leader will never be born.

The most useful knowledge I got from Bennis’ Chapter 2 is a comparison of leaders and managers through education and training. I copied that list to look back on in the future and reflect on myself whether I follow the leadership trends and display leadership qualities and traits. Another useful comparison was a list of short statements like “The manager administers; the leader innovates, or the manager is a copy; the leader is an original.”

Majority of these things are self intuitive but it is extremely useful to to think and talk abou them to check yourself and see where you stand.

There was only one slight disagreement that I had with in this chapter and it was a discussion of Once born Twice born.  It may be certainly true that “once borns” are given everything they need at birth and are guided by parents and environment throughout their life; where twice borns usually suffer and those grow stronger leadership qualities.  That is may be true, but is not 100% of the time. A lot of great leaders became great leaders because they have been taught and guided by great leaders.

Chapter 3 did not really open many horizons for me, as it mainly speaks about things I have though of before and came about knowing earlier in my life. Though there is one thing the Professor Raymond brought up in class and that is an example of a tennis player.  The example was about a tennis player that hits the ball without thinking where it would land, observing its landing location and adjusting his next shot.  In short it is Shoot Observe Adjust.  I thought about it a little and believe it is an amazing approach to many undertakings in your life, especially being an entrepreneur, who learn from their mistakes and move on.  This strategy can give you time advantage among your competitors and allow for learning from experience, rather then from theory.  Of course, it does not mean that one should not think or be prepare before taking an action, but once you’re ready and there is an opportunity, Shoot, if its slightly off, Adjust and shoot again!

That’s the approach!!!

Bennis speaks for a breif moment in chapter two on the idea that people will accept the vision of a leader regardless of their own convictions (or belief in the falsehood of the leader’s claims) based upon how adamant and sincere the leader states their case for their vision. This reminds me of Bryan Caplin’s The Myth of the Rational Voter, where he discusses this quirk of humans the one Bennis discuses being just one of them and how it plays out in the political landscape of a democracy. For the less reading inclined here is a video ofCaplin summing up the main points of his book.

Another idea that Bennis gets into that struck a cord is discussed at the end of the chapter when he discusses the study done on regret retarding pursuing ones dreams. Sumed up the study found that men who pursued their dream even if that dream failed, were happier later in life than those who never tried at all, for having the self-satisfaction of knowing that they tried. I personally found this the most powerful idea in the entire chapter and would have prefferd he spent more time discussing it.

Bennis starts off chapter 2 saying “leaders come in every size, shape, and disposition– short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female.”  While we may all read this and agree, I can’t help but question its authenticity. Are all leaders accepted despite the very things that make them who they are?  I would have to argue no.  The most prevalent case being the presidency.  Since the US independence from England there has been not one single female president to date, or vice president for that matter.  If anyone can be a leader, given that they’ve acquired the basic ingredients of a guiding vision, passion, integrity, trust, curiosity, and daring, as mentioned in the text… why are we still questioning our readiness for a female president now in 2012 where women have come a long way from the stereotypical housewife.  Women have become CEO’s, Oprah has her own television network, and many more are venturing into entrepreneurial start ups. I wonder how long it will be before the nation is ready for a female leader.  I guess it is “as Norman Lear puts it ‘on the one hand, we’re a society that seems to be proud of individuality.  On the other hand, we don’t really tolerate real individuality.  We want to homogenize it,'” as quoted by Bennis.