Leaders Strategies For Taking Charge by Warren Bennis and Burt

            The book proposes a unique vision on the problems of ethical behavior and leadership, reaction to change and overcoming resistance to change. The authors underline that the new leader “commits people to action, converts followers into leaders, and may convert leaders into agents of change.”” (Bennis, Nanus, 1997). The book is devoted to principles of ethics and their practical application to everyday activities. For leaders, ethics and communication is a core of their activity which determines a set of moral principles that govern the actions of an individual. Bennis and Nanus propose four main strategies for effective leadership: strategy 1: Attention Through Vision; strategy 2: Meaning Through Communication; strategy 3: Trust Through Positioning; strategy 4: The Deployment of Self Through Positive Self Regard. Also, the book involves a lot of examples taken from life of such leaders as John Kennedy, Sanford Weill and Roger Smith, etc. Bennis and Nanus underline that top leaders should be interested both in practical guidelines and specific results taking into account philosophical discussions. Leadership might be based on a function of personality and behavioral patterns. It may also be viewed in terms of the role of the leaders and their ability to achieve effective performance from others. Leadership is related to motivation, interpersonal behavior and to the process of communication.

            This book is very effective for everyone involved in educational administration. It proposes a unique vision of the problems of leadership and change management based on ethical standards and ethical decisions. In the field of educational administration, ethical principles of leadership are crucial for organizational success. In their relationships with other people, educators should maintain a high level of emotional involvement. This book can be successfully used in educational administration, because it is necessary for educators to exercise the role of leadership. There is a similarity between the leadership skills required in educational administration and the same skills required by team leaders in manage­ment. The information and materials of this book will help to shape the knowledge of education giving deep insight to the problems of change, trust, time dimension, a leader’s position, internal and external environment, participative and anticipative behavior patterns, etc. It can be used as a guide for leadership standards and ethics in educational administration.

References

1. Warren Bennis, Burt Nanus. (1997). Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. HarperBusiness; 2nd ed.