Essays on Bennis

Introduction

The economic and social wellbeing of the society depends substantially on an effective and efficient performance of organisations. Management and leadership activity in the United Kingdom organisations becomes necessary, and the weakness and opportunities that exist should get addressed to realize a further advantage based on enhanced performance (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). Thus, excellent and adequate management and leadership skills are essential tools to achieve the best in organisations. The current ideas of the nature of leadership and management have evolved significantly over several decades to encompass new ideas including emotional intelligence, especially in organisation and planning (Giacalone & Rosenfield 2013). ...

Management and leadership

Introduction Leadership seems so common that the definition is almost vague. Leadership and management are two different traits but when they are combined they are useful for optimal performance. What makes up a leader is education and what makes up a manager is training (Bennis, 2009). The word management in the English language comes from the Latin word manus, meaning “horse training” (Darling & Nurmi, 2009). Shakespeare used this meaning in King Lear, but it also means deceit in the play As You Like It. George Washington also referred the same meaning of management in his Letters. After the industrial ...

Introduction

Contemporary leadership theory is focused on the transformation of the organizational and individual view on the role of leaders in building the sustainable corporate culture and addressing change management and uncertainty in the modern corporations. While a number of frameworks are developed to evaluate and concept and find a set of factor and personal qualities, which define a great leader, the reality shows that leadership unique and the success of one or another individual as a leader depends on upon a number of intrinsic and external factors (Bennis and Thomas, 2002). With that in mind, self-awareness, understanding of the ...

Leadership has numerous definitions and dimensions, but I largely view it as the ability of someone to influence other people to willfully and passionately to follow a certain course and achieve some specific objectives. There are several lessons in leadership that can influence me to become a better leader in my professional life. I learned that leaders are not born, but we do make them. To become a good leader, people need to improve themselves and become the best by increasing their ability to be the “best self” (George and Sims, 2010). In this regard, I looked at myself ...

The article, “The Well Director,” is a compilation of ten attributes that describe a great director. This paper will discuss four of the attributes discussed in the paper that this writer deems most important; 1) a great director has vision, 2) results are obtained by guiding people to accomplish the predetermined goals of an organization, 3) an efficient management team is key to success, and 4) a great director causes people to want to work for him or her. All ten attributes are important, but this writer feels that these four are keys to the overall success of a ...

A project manager is responsible for planning, organizing, implementing and monitoring a project. Towards planning, a project manager determines the things to be done, identifies who is going to do the things and the time frame for getting the things done. His organizing role includes framing an organizational structure, identifying the roles and responsibilities of various project staff and external agencies, if any, for availing various services. As an implementer a project manager sets goals to his team members and provides them with necessary support to complete the project within the time frame. As a monitor, he evaluates the ...

This I Believe

Becoming a leader entails a deeper and honest understanding of one’s self. It is well noted that for a leader’s success, the weight of the journey does not heavily depend on the followers; rather, a leader’s success is dependent on the fact that the leader must convince and inspire his followers that he deserves to be followed. This motion is supported by the definition of leadership as established by Sharma & Jain (2013) wherein they define leadership as the system by which a person bears the capacity to inspire and motivate others in accomplishing a common goal. ...

MANAGEMENT

Part 1 In today’s world of global challenges and competition, the role of managers and leaders is of critical importance. Managers need to make sure that the right kind of people gets hired for the right positions so that they are able to perform better. Managers also make certain that employees are given access to necessary resources so that they can deliver results precisely. The role of leaders is more pronounced than managers (Zaleznik, 1992). Leaders serve to motivate employees not by force, but through their charismatic persona and timely guidance and feedback. Without leaders, the employee would ...

Trust, commitment to organizational goals and readiness to apply efforts to reach common goals represent the key assets that allow for a successful performance of a team. According to Lencioni (2002), the absence of trust is a foundational dysfunction of a team, stemming from ‘team members’ unwillingness to be vulnerable within a team’ (p.187). If a team leader is not able to promote openness among team members, they may also fear a conflict, striving to an artificial harmony. Apart from promoting trust and constructive conflict, a team manager needs to be able to inspire employees and develop their commitment. ...

One learned a lot from Bennis and Thomas’ (2013) article entitled “Crucibles of Leadership” in terms of recognizing and realizing that in times of adversity or severe trials (crucibles), the true essence of a successful leader emerges. It was significantly illuminating to have been apprised that what separates an extraordinary leader from the rest is his ability be resilient amidst severe challenges and find meaning despite a barrage of negative forces. The rationale for the distinction was identified to have been the most essential leadership skills that are more honed to greater perfection after weathering the storm and emerging victorious from the ...

After careful internalization of article by Warren Bennis, ‘Crucibles of Leadership,’ my mind clicked to an event that made me a better leader, changed my whole view on success and made me a better person. Occurrences in life define our futures and change our lives completely. All through in the stages of development from childhood, I always knew that I possessed the right leadership qualities and these made me a role model to my peers. Nevertheless, leading does not have to be triggered by a happening in your life, but rather, it has to be a drive from the inside that inspires you and ...

Introduction for CMU Competencies Model

The crux of this report is to highlight my leadership competencies through the exploration of theories and models. Also, with the aids of the leadership development plan, I will be better off on preparing myself; a young undergraduate who is entering the workforce in the near future and have an aim to take up leadership role as an event manager in a major company. The Central Michigan University (CMU) had developed a Leadership Competency Model which made up of five aspects, namely the social responsibility, innovation, task management, leading others and self-management. According to the model, leaders may not master all ...

Change involves the introduction of a new system, idea or activity. This may often include the introduction of a new methodology or strategy that may cause discomfort in an organization. Change is not instinctual, as at happens through a process. It occurs in clearly defined phases that involve planning for the change, executing it and acceptance of the new situation and circumstances in the organization (Bennis, 2003). This paper explores the idea of change in light of the phases involves and the challenge of unsuccessfully introducing change in an organization. Communicating change in an organization essentially happens through three major steps. ...

Introduction

Recently Syria has been on global TVs for all wrong reasons. It is almost nicknamed land of fate following the extensive peace provocations in the country. It has been the point of comparison for nations renowned for insecurity through terrorism and tribal wars. Children with bear terrorism knowledge closely identifies with Syria as they consistently hear about the country in TVs and radios. It is a bad example of nation that children would wish to grow up in. In fact, not many people can tell about the origin of war in Syria. However, people have consistently thought of how the ...

Management and Leadership Styles

I Introduction The purpose of this paper is to describe management and leadership styles. And find similarities and differences between manager and leader. It is my opinion that manager and leader are the two different roles but I think people often use the terms interchangeably. Managers arrange working on a team; provide resources to their people; supervise they are productive and successful; perform trainings; make sure that they people are developing to the next level and can handle challenges. Leader can be anyone on the team. He or she can generate bright ideas and creative thoughts; have ...

Leadership and ethics to me are two of the most related words in the common business jargon. All leaders have the capability to manage their resources, people and situations but not all managers can lead in all situations. All good leaders must have an ethical foundation that would enable him to effectively lead. This is the fundamental difference between a “leader” and a “manager”, despite the two terms being used interchangeably in present-day literature. According to Bennis and Nanus (1997) a leader must have experienced and succeeded in: - Overcoming resistance to change - normally through the exertion of power and ...

Max Weber, Bureaucracy

Thesis: The main focus for Weber in this article was to convey concrete ideas about the office and the office management in all the jurisdictional areas. He has also enlightened the reader with the old and the modern ways of holding office and office duties. Weber lays stress on following rules and laws in the office. He also calls holding an office as an occupation towards which an employee shall be inclined to order to survive. “ There is the principle of fixed and official jurisdictional areas, which are genrally ordered by rules, that is , by laws or administrative ...

Traditional Theory

Traditional theories were presented in the earlier period of 1960’s or before. The theories involved discussion regarding the relationship between leader and subordinate based on traits that must be present in a leader to ensure that the organization benefits from it. This trait approach of earlier times stated that certain traits are required to be present in an individual to be an effective leader. This is where the most common notion ‘leaders are born, not made’ came from. Organizations tend to label certain personality traits that define the leadership quality and make it different from non-leaders (Hacker and Roberts, ...

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study would be to identify the importance of effective leader to manage the distribution of goods and services offered by Consumer Technology Corporation to the final consumer at the right time and place. In order to do so, the study would first elaborate the term leader. This would help to gain insight regarding the essential traits required by individuals to be regarded as an effective leader. Leadership is not just limited to one or two styles but it includes various styles. This study would also tend to determine the right set of skills and leadership ...

Assignment#2

Introduction Successful leadership is characterized by the manner in which the leaders manage difficult times. Most leaders ranging from those in businesses to those working in the public setting have undergone and put up with traumatic situations. The ability to learn from every negative experience and soldering on to making great leaders is what makes the difference. Thomas and Bennis(2001) refer to these challenges of leadership as “the crucibles of Leadership.” A crucible is a transforming occurrence of a person from an old perspective to a new sense of individuality. For a leader to grow and develop out of the crucibles, ...

Decision-making is the focal point or rather basis for any public administration. It is the essence that defines management of any organization or administration. In many administrations and organizations, decisions are the clear indicators for action and the precursors to success or failure. The lack of success or failure, in turn shows the need for new decisions. An administration’s outcomes are matched with trajectories set down by the administrative culture and the resources availed to them (Bennis, 23). Decision-making entails selection of a course of action from amongst alternatives. It is a plural activity in public administration meaning it ...

Blogging as a Learning Activity

As Information and Communication Technologies advance and reach more aspects of everyday life, there are significant changes in the way that people learn. The teacher/student paradigm is significantly affected and there is a major shift in our understanding of how people access knowledge. Children, especially teenagers, are continually exposed to the effects of ICT’s and this should be a new opportunity for learning. Besides the need to learn how to use ICT’s, there is a real opportunity to introduce all sorts of educational contents in a different way: one that is closer to the student´s life and interests. The learning ...

Running a business proves to be one of the most difficult ventures a businessperson can venture. As college students, we were curious as to why business proves to be a tricky investment. We, therefore, had to select a businessperson after a thorough study to help us understand more about the requirements, in business and conditions we had to meet to make a business prosper. We did researches on business managers and business leaders, and we found out that Kevin Kelly, a business manager, provided guidelines to better a business. We found out that Steve Jobs acted as the best business leader. According to Bennis (2009, p. 154), a ...

Leadership and power are two factors that have brought about a lot of interesting debates, and confusion for many years. Many take power as a capacity to lead, but people that have leadership knowledge uses power as a function for leadership. Leaders have the ability to influence their followers depending on the leadership method they adopt (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2000). From the case study, Ho Ching is described as an influential leader since she assisted the Asian based company Temasek, and other Singapore’s leading companies. Ho was a Prime Minister’s wife, but she was naturally a leader and never used the ...

Group Design and application of therapy to a particular homogeneous group is an important aspect of therapeutics in psychology. This exercise is a stepwise process, which is created in order to design groups and provide them with assistance and counseling in line with the guidelines laid by state-run treatment facility. The goal of facilitator will be to define the group, which in this case would be Drug & Alcoholic Offenders and provide T.A.S.C. Treatment Alternatives for a safe community sessions. The group members are chosen on the basis of set criteria and efforts were in place in order to maximize the homogeneity ...

Netflix’s marketing strategy change

Introduction Change is an integral part of everyday life both for organizations and individuals. It is often considered negative, since it involves a certain level of stress for the system and a disruption of the conventional organizational practices. However, along with the negative side, change also entails benefits, if it is conducted in the right way. This paper aims to present an example of the recent change in Netflix strategy and to explain the possible reasons for its failure. This example applies change management theories and concepts to the Netflix case, in order to identify what went wrong and, thus ...

Task

Since time immemorial, leadership has been has existed but since it is still growing and evolving, the concept of leadership is complex making it hard to have a single definition for which everyone can agree. Transformational Leadership entails approaches that alleviate positive social and individual changes.

Strategy I: Attention through vision

Bennis and Nanus sate that “in order for leader to choose a direction, he or she has to develop a vision of the desired and possible state of the organization.” (82). The strategy emphasizes on the ability of a leader to be able to take risks and gamble with their future. World-renowned leaders had visions that set ...

Lawrence, the president of Harvard University once said in 2001 that the world of 21st century has to implement an education system that will produce future leaders and promote growth of innovative ideas. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in their book “Leaders: Strategies for taking Charge”, state that the 21st century leadership is completely different from management. They argue that a successful leadership can only be achieved through trust, authority and vision. They emphasize that successful leaders are those who can enforce authority to workers, clearly express the vision to them and create a trustworthy environment in the organization. The authors ...

INTRODUCTION

The admission process of the Puerta al Futuro program at FDU is in dire need of improvement. There are rampant issues in the facilities provided to the students, the classes and the faculty who teach them. More issues involve the marketing of the program itself, and the process by which students can get financial aid. By improving these issues, the program can be made to be more appealing to the average Hispanic student looking for an effective way to receive an education from a university.

FACILITIES

- Current situation The students of the Puerta al Futuro program are not informed ...

The gateway program (Puerta al Futuro) at Fairleigh Dickinson University involves an admission process that must be improved dramatically. It is evident that the administrator of that admissions program needs to undergo drastic changes in management style and effectiveness in order to make the appropriate adjustments. With the help of my group, I have helped to come up with several methods by which the administrator can change his or her actions to streamline and improve this admission process. This essay helps to delineate the problems found, the principles the administration should follow, and my own experiences working with this ...

Introduction

Managing the dream is a book written by Warren Bennis, who is one of the most renowned leadership writers. The author explores all aspects of leadership from a theoretical and a practitioner point of view. The book is a perfect representation of leadership, which comprises of numerous essays that represents the author’s thinking towards what leadership entails. Bennis focuses on the core competencies of the aspect of effective leadership, at both the individual and group level in his book. Managing the dream is a tool for team leaders and managers who aspire to be effective in their leadership roles (Bennis, 2000). This paper ...