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Title: Geeks and Geezers by Warren G. Bennis, Robert J. Thomas ISBN: 1-57851-582-3 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 08 August, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.89 (9 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: As a management and leadership literature junkie I always anticipate anything new from Dr Bennis. I have to say this one was disappointing. The generational perspective was novel but un-enlightening. And the basic leadership principles discussed was stuff hashed over any number of times in other texts and previous work by others including Dr Bennis. Admittedly I found myself skipping through pages because I couldn't take another lame example of how "insightful" these twenty-something dot commers were. Comparing their "crucible" of growing up with divorced parents and a TV babysitter with the previous generations' crucibles of watching their buddies shot on the battlefields of WWII or sitting in prison for sixteen years is in my opinion no comparison at all. I'm surprised Dr Bennis as a bronze star recipient himself would allow such an arbitrary parallel to be made. There is a respectful appeal for a return to national leadership and service in the last few pages of the book but this seems too little too late. I'll hold out for the next Bennis book to be a return to the quality I've seen in the past.
Rating: 4
Summary: Out of the Crucible of Life comes Leadership
Comment: Geeks & Geezers by Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas is about how Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders. And it does an excellent job of pointing out the differences between our generations. This Harvard Business School Press publication is definitely useful in understanding the way folks in my parents' generation (the Geezers) react to those in my children's generation (Geek) . Based on their definitions for Geeks and Geezers, I am in between the two, yet most of my acquaintances put me in the Geek category due to my love of and work in the world of technology.
The basic premise of this book is that all leaders must go through a "crucible" of some kind. The kind of leadership characteristics we have may be different because of our environments (Geezers defined by WWII, Parental fallibility, etc. and Geeks by abundance, opportunity, technology and globalization), but every leader is tested somehow. The different environments and experiences affects the needs, wants, character and maturation process for these people and therefore define the differences in leadership style.
After exploring historical experiences and interviewing both groups, the authors complete their leadership model with Era and Individual factors feeding into the crucible of Experiences. The crucible heats up experiences and organization of meaning that develops Leadership competencies. The crucible might be military service in the case of the Geezer of business failure in the case of the Geeks, but whatever that life changing crucible is, it is the one thing that is common to leadership. This book is worth your time and consideration if for no other reason than to understand the value of the crucible we may now be going through in our contracting economy - this so called job-loss recovery.
Rating: 3
Summary: Okay, I dont get it, isnt this stuff just common sense???
Comment: I have just finished watching Bennis talk about his book on C-Span's book reviews and have just read the individual book reviews here--and I don't get it. Isn't this stuff just common sense? Leaders have to be resilient? Leaders have to have charisma? Leaders have to be deep and have a vision that comes from introspection? Leaders have to have a moral compass? And the one I truly don't get is why the hoopla over the "crucible". My goodness, who has gone through life without a "crucible" experience? We are all men of clay--put into the kiln of life to see what comes out--if anything is patently obvious you would think that would be. What comes out of the other end of the crucible for Bennis is the myopic focus on "leaders". So what I get out of this is that Warren Bennis is a genius in finding the center of the watermellon--an easy life in southern California writing about stuff that is just plain obvious--and getting paid wildly for it. Bennis came out of the crucible not as a leader, but as crafty. How about you?
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Title: On Becoming A Leader: The Leadership Classic--Updated And Expanded by Warren Bennis, Warren G. Bennis ISBN: 0738208175 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations by John P. Kotter, Dan S. Cohen ISBN: 1578512549 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value by Bill George ISBN: 0787969133 Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 25 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, Richard E. Boyatzis ISBN: 157851486X Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Leading Quietly by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. ISBN: 1578514878 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 11 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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