Warren Bennis

I've become more and more aware of the promise and struggle to teach the global mind nowadays because I use every chance I get to ask faculty and administrators of management education programs why we don't offer at least one course - not even required, just an elective - on the world's religions.

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

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.

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.

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 a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

Leaders should always expect the very best of those around them. They know that people can change and grow.

Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality.

People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.

How can we educators claim credit for understanding, let alone teaching, the 'global mind' without a single course on the impact of religion on every day life?

The original and brilliant idea of an MBA was the opportunity for students to study the theory and application of business and management principles.

The primary goal of management education was, as originally conceived, to impart knowledge that could be applied to a variety of real-world business situations.

Most regular, two-year MBA programs provide both experience and the capacity to link together the essential elements of management such as finance, marketing, organizational behavior, and operations.

Specialized management courses are useful but should come well after the complexity of management and business are understood.

Learning options will indeed mushroom for business students and leaders, but it will take prudence and shrewdness to find and utilize the best option.

Learning in a face-to-face human community, as humans have evolved to do over hundreds of thousands of years, may always be the ideal - especially in an endeavor that is as relationship-driven as business.

A great director or leader knows his people, creates a great team, and then makes a great movie that can influence millions more than the readers of his column.

As my blog editor knows all too well, I wasn't all that keen to enter the blogosphere world.

Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.

Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.

The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

Find the appropriate balance of competing claims by various groups of stakeholders. All claims deserve consideration but some claims are more important than others.