Harvard Business Review - 2004.01.pdf

Click here to visit:The Seven Ages of the Leader Warren G.Bennis Get your HBR Subscriber Alert|Click HereThe next issue of HBR online will post on the 1st of the month.Now Available!Exclusive New Benefit for HBR Subscribers:Online access to the past eleven issues of HBR!Simply select the issue you want to access from the drop down menu above.This Month:Inside the Mind of the Leader Most of us know what great leadership looks like from the outside.But what about from the inside?In this special issue of HBR,we delve into the psychology of leadershipfrom emotional intelligence to Freudto reveal a deeper understanding of effective leadership.The Seven Ages of the Leader Warren G.BennisWhen Followers Become Toxic Lynn R.OffermannPutting Leaders on the Couch A Conversation with Manfred F.R.Kets de VriesFrom the EditorThe Leaders Secret Self Thomas A.Stewart HBR Case StudyLeft on a Mountainside Julia Kirby VoicesLeading by Feel Thinking About.LeadershipWarts and All Barbara Kellerman Best of HBRManagers and Leaders:Are They Different?Abraham Zaleznik What Makes a Leader?Daniel Goleman Narcissistic Leaders:The Incredible Pros,the Inevitable Cons Michael Maccoby Understanding Leadership W.C.H.Prentice Also in this IssueExecutive SummariesIn ClosingReprints and SubscriptionsAbout HBRCopyright 2003 Harvard Business School Publishing.All rights reserved.View Back Issues Click here to visit:|January 2004 The Seven Ages of the Leader The Seven Ages of the Leader Each stage of leadership brings new crises and challenges.Theyre wrenchingbut knowing what to expect can help you get through them.by Warren G.Bennis My initial plunge into leadership came during World War II.I was a lieutenant in the infantry,19 years old,and scared out of my wits.My orders were to assume command of a platoon on the front lines in Belgium.I arrived in the middle of the night,when most of the men were asleep.The platoon had taken up residence in a bombed-out shell of a house.I was led into the kitchen by the platoons runner,and he offered me a bench to sleep on.Instead,I put my sleeping bag on the floor,next to the rest of the men.Not that I slept.I lay awake all night,listening to the bombs explode.I was as green as can be and knew little about commandor the world,for that matter.When the others in the house began to stir,I heard one sergeant ask another,“Whos that?”“Thats our new platoon leader,”the man answered.And the sergeant said,“Good.We can use him.”Without realizing it,without having any idea what was the right thing to do,I had made a good first move.My entry had been low-key.I hadnt come in with my new commission blazing.In fact,I pretended to go to sleep on the floor.As a result,without drawing attention to myself,I learned something important about the men I would be leading.I learned that they needed meor,at least,they needed the person they would subsequently teach me to be.And teach me they did.Over the next few weeks in Belgium,my men,who had already seen combat,kept me alive.They also taught me how to lead,often by example.The sergeant who had greeted my arrival with approval became my lifeline,quite literally,teaching me such essential skills as how to ride through a war zone without getting blown up.While few business leaders need worry about being blown up,my experience in Belgium was in many ways typical of first leadership experiences anywhere.I was coming into an existing organization where emotions ran high,relationships had been established,and the members of the organization harbored expectations of me that I was not yet fully aware of.My new followers were watching me,to see if and how I would measure up.Every new leader faces the misgivings,misperceptions,and the personal needs and agendas of those who are to be led.To underestimate the importance of your first moves is to invite disaster.The critical entry is one of a number of passageseach of which has an element of personal crisisthat every leader must go through at some point in the course of a career.Business school doesnt prepare you for these crises,and they can be utterly wrenching.But they offer powerful lessons as well.Shakespeare,who seems to have learned more every time I read him,spoke of the seven ages of man.A leaders life has seven ages as well,and,in many ways,they parallel those Shakespeare describes in As You Like It.To paraphrase,these stages can be described as infant,schoolboy,lover,soldier,general,statesman,and sage.One way to learn about leadership is to look at each of these developmental stages and consider the issues and crises that are typical of each.Major changes in the first six months will inevitably be perceived as arbitrary,autocratic,and unfair,as much for their timing as for their content.I cant offer advice on how to avoid these crises because many are inevitable.Nor would I necessarily recommend that you avoid them,since dealing with the challenges of each stage prepares you for the next.But knowing what to expect can help the le