QuoteProject
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.
Warren Bennis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Leaders are not born with innate qualities; they are developed through experience and learning.

Warren Bennis challenges the common belief that leadership is an inherent trait determined by genetics. Instead, he emphasizes that leadership abilities can be cultivated through effort, experience, and intentional development, rejecting the notion that only certain individuals have the qualities necessary to lead effectively.

Themes

LeadershipDevelopmentCharismaMythExperience

In practice

Example use cases

In a team-building workshop, this quote can be used to motivate attendees to develop their leadership skills.

More from Warren Bennis

Learning options will indeed mushroom for business students and leaders, but it will take prudence and shrewdness to find and utilize the best option.
Warren BennisRead
Specialized management courses are useful but should come well after the complexity of management and business are understood.
Warren BennisRead
You need people who can walk their companies into the future rather than back them into the future.
Warren BennisRead
Leaders should always expect the very best of those around them. They know that people can change and grow.
Warren BennisRead

Similar quotes

Future generations will judge us _x000D_ not by what we say, but what we do.
Ellen Johnson SirleafRead
No president is well-served by groupthink or by everybody singing from the same sheet of music they think he's on.
Robert M. GatesRead
I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life.
Ronald ReaganRead
When you are speaking to your team after a game, never talk about the kid who was the star of the game. Talk about what your other players did to help the team win. Be sure to spread the wealth... Then have individual meetings with one to three players to praise and reinforce. Make sure you touch them.
Mike KrzyzewskiRead
I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.
Queen Elizabeth IiRead
Above all, I would like to be remembered as a man who was selfless, who strove and worried so that others could share the glory, and who built up a family of people who could hold their heads up high and say 'We're Liverpool'.
Bill ShanklyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.