Warren Bennis died July 31. His legacy lives on.
He was Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California and considered a trailblazer in the field of Leadership Studies. Bennis did not claim that there were easy paths to leadership or that some people are somehow born with the DNA of a leader. In fact, he called the idea that leaders are born the “most dangerous leadership myth.” He claimed “the opposite is true; leaders are made rather than born.”
As Bill George writes in his 8/4/14 blog (see billgeorge.org): “It was Warren who first said leadership is…the result of the lifelong process of self-discovery. That process enables people to become fully integrated human beings who know themselves and bring out the best in others.” {emphasis added}
This is exactly what we mean by leadership is about creating movement toward potential and that Leadership is a Lifelong Practice.