The Art and Adventure of Leadership
PRAISE FOR THE ART AND ADVENTURE OF LEADERSHIP
“The impact of Steve Sample and Warren Bennis has been enormous, here at USC and across academia and the world of management. But some of their most enduring impact came not simply in their roles as leaders, but as teachers who were deeply committed to building up new leaders. The Art and Adventure of Leadership distills their many lively conversations and debates into one compelling volume that can continue to educate attentive students of leadership for years to come. It’s a fitting exclamation mark on their joint legacy.”
“Of all the people I’ve ever met, Steve Sample and Warren Bennis are the master teachers of leadership. Both lived it and studied it for most of their lives. Their friendship and decades-long collaboration produced some of the most important insights in the field. The Art and Adventure of Leadership captures what only a handful of students have experienced so far. Its wisdom spans generations. You should get it and read it, and more importantly, talk with others about it.”
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright © 2015 by Warren Bennis and Steven B. Sample. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Bennis, Warren G.
The art and adventure of leadership: understanding failure, resilience and success / Warren Bennis, Steven B. Sample, with Rob Asghar.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-119-09031-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-119-09038-0 (ePDF); ISBN 978-1-119-09032-8 (ePub)
1. Leadership. 2. Success in business. 3. Success. I. Sample, Steven B., 1940- II. Asghar, Rob. III. Title.
HD57.7.B4576 2015
658.4’092–dc23
2015001932
DEDICATION
Dedicated with love to Grace Gabe and Kathryn Sample
FOREWORD
Warren Bennis and Steve Sample argued passionately for years that leadership is an art, not a science. Having studied and practiced leadership at the highest levels, they concluded that there were no surefire formulas, no one-size-fits-all approaches that could be dispensed to aspiring leaders.
As Warren wrote years ago, “The process of becoming a leader is…similar to becoming a fully integrated human being.” He and Steve believed that leaders develop through their life experiences and emerge ever stronger – ready and equipped to take on the true responsibilities of leadership.
It's as simple as that. And as wonderfully mysterious as that. Warren and Steve likened this process to an adventure, one that involves unique twists, unexpected turns, and personal “crucible moments” that forge each person who sets out on the journey.
Fittingly, “The Art and Adventure of Leadership” is the title of a course they co-taught at the University of Southern California each spring for 15 years. It was the most sought-after course at the university. Only the most outstanding students with demonstrated leadership potential could hope to get a seat in this extraordinary class of learning from two masters who offered their wisdom of more than 100 years of leading.
Warren invited me several times to be a guest speaker for the course. By far the most significant was in April 2014, the next-to-last class Warren ever taught. Can you imagine teaching a full course at age 89? That was Warren, although beset with bodily ills, as sharp and wise as ever mentally. Though his speech was halting, the students watched with rapt attention as Warren interviewed me about leadership.
Each of us who knew Warren – students, leaders, and faculty alike – gained enormously from his wisdom and insights. Unlike some scholars who hoard their ideas, Warren genuinely wanted all of us to take his ideas, expand on them, and live them. He was indeed, as I said at his memorial service, a generous friend.
Warren's influence on business leaders had been widespread and profound for decades. So many executives who never had the privilege of knowing him were inspired by his writings and adopted his approach to leadership. Countless chief executive officers have told me personally what a profound influence he had on their leadership. For that, he is properly remembered as “the father of leadership.”
Steve, for his part, was a master practitioner of the leadership trade. He was revered in higher-education circles for pushing the State University of New York at Buffalo into the limelight, and then for guiding USC into the academic big leagues. He, too, carried his gifts into the classroom and shared them generously. The students who participated in this remarkable course were not only given a great gift but also given a lifetime opportunity to share that gift with others.
Long before I met Warren, I read his classic On Becoming a Leader just as I was joining Medtronic. Finally, I had found a philosophy of leadership I could resonate with. As Warren wrote: “The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” Throughout my years at Medtronic and at Harvard, I have carried that belief into my work and my teaching.
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