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Leadership Teamwork

Warren Bennis on The Art of Leading Well

Take 10 minutes to listen to this HBR interview with 85-year old leadership guru Warren Bennis. You’ll be glad you did. Opening question: What are two or three of the characteristics of really great leaders?

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?

By Ken

Dr. Ken Cochrum (DMin, Bethel University) is Vice President of Global Digital Strategies at Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) in Orlando, Florida. An avid cyclist and aspiring guitarist, he also holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas and a Masters of Arts in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He recently co-founded Indigitous.org, a movement passionate about connecting people to Jesus using digital strategies. He previously served as vice president of Cru’s student-led movements worldwide. He and his wife Ann spent 13 years in East Asia where they raised their two children. Ken blogs regularly at www.onleadingwell.com.

2 replies on “Warren Bennis on The Art of Leading Well”

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

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