Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

good leader is simplistic, not complex. He makes things seem simple. He’s persistent. If he can’t convince his people and he really thinks it ought to be done, he’ll find a different way to come at them until either they convince him, or he them. He’s fair and has a sense of humor, and he has humility. If you ever become chief executive, remember:Y

A good leader is decisive.

seem to get their kicks out of seeing their own people succeed and their own organization succeed. They are visible or available to their people, and they are good listeners.

so Townsend was a bit controversial. But that’s a characteristic of great leadership, and Bob didn’t back down when critics turned up the heat. He didn’t care what people thought about him personally; what he cared about was creating an organization that was both profitable and an exciting place to work.

I was honest about the problems, and they motivated themselves to solve them; I couldn’t do that for them.

Business fads may come and go, but there will always be a need for such pure voices in the wilderness.

PROMISES Keep them. If asked when you can deliver something, ask for time to think. Build in a margin of safety. Name a date. Then deliver it earlier than you promised.

personal ambition under control;

Get to know your people. What they do well, what they enjoy doing, what their weaknesses and strengths are, and what they want and need to get from their job. And then try to create an organization around your people, not jam your people into those organization-chart rectangles. The only excuse for organization is to maximize the chance that each o