Quotes by Warren Bennis

• Leadership has become a heavy industry. Concern and interest about leadership development is no longer an American phenomenon. It is truly global. Though I will probably be in less demand, I wanted to move on.
• I wanted the influence. In the end I wasn't very good at being a president. I looked out of the window and thought that the man cutting the lawn actually seemed to have more control over what he was doing.
• The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.
• Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them.
• You need people who can walk their companies into the future rather than back them into the future.
• Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.
• There is a profound difference between information and meaning.
• Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.
• The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
• Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.
• People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.
• Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just on the bottom line.
• Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard.
• There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.
• Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
• The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
• Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.
• The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.
• The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
• The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
• Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.
• Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary.
• Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.
• Success isn't about what you accomplish in life; it's about what you inspire others to do.