Rereading the Leadership Classics

Given recent events, I think there will be reexamination of what it means – and takes – to lead. I know that I am reflecting on some of the assumptions I have had about organizations, what happens inside them, and who people want to follow. While it is always good to look for new voices, I also like to revisit classics that have informed my thinking.

Here are three people whose work I have found provides enduring wisdom. There are more, but I promised that each week I would deliver a short read. That means there is plenty for the weeks ahead. The Stoics come to mind.

Peter Drucker gave us some of the foundational concepts of modern management such as management by objectives (the one concept I recall clearly from my undergraduate management courses). I continue to look to Drucker as he was more interested in how humans interact in organizations than business models or the mechanics of how businesses work. Human dynamics transcend trends. Among my favorite of his quotes is, “The task of management is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective, and their weaknesses irrelevant.”

Drucker on Leadership is a good collection of essays. Drucker most often wrote about management, not leadership per se, though what falls under each designation has always been somewhat fluid.

Warren Bennis is one of the true pioneers in what we now think of as leadership. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times, and he was as gracious as he was insightful. Like Drucker, Bennis was most interested in people, particularly in groups and teams. He foresaw that hierarchies would become less dominant as work evolved in the post-industrial economy. The Bennis quote I’ll share is this: “Good leaders make people feel that they are the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens, people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.”

On Becoming a Leader is Bennis’ best-known book. I suggest The Essential Bennis as a great place to begin exploring his work.

Mary Parker Follet is much less known (except to those in the know) though she is someone who inspired and informed the thinking of both Drucker and Bennis. She pushed back against industrial hierarchies back in the 1920s and is the originator of the concept of power with rather than power over as the true magic of leading. One of my favorite Follett quotes is, “The most successful leader of all is the one who sees another picture not yet actualized. He sees the things that are not yet there... Above all, he should make his co-workers see that it is not his purpose which is to be achieved, but a common purpose, born of the desires and activities of the group.”

A good overview of Follett’s thinking can be found in Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management: A Celebration of Writings from the 1920s.

Parker Follet was initially a sensation. Then her writings were nearly lost. She fell out of favor as more top-down Masters of the Universe business thinking dominated the lead up to and then after WWII. I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s reemerging now.

Reflecting on the places I’ve worked, for better and worse, as well as the leader and educator I’ve tried to be, I can see why the themes of common purpose and shared achievement found in Drucker, Bennis, and Follet’s work resonated. I’ll turn to them for wisdom again now.

As always, please subscribe and share. Comments encouraged. Links are in the comments section.