President Bush, often dismissed as a frat boy who lucked into
everything he achieved, became a candidate for a “strange new
respect” award after his handling of the crisis following last
year’s terrorist attacks. That’s both because he was often
underestimated by his foes and he did what many leaders do, rise to
the occasion.
Unlike his immediate predecessor, who was often the poster boy
for the excesses and self-indulgence that characterize many members
of the baby boom generation, Bush has shown a seriousness of
purpose.
When journalists and scholars try to explain how people “grow”
into leaders, they often resort to excessive psychobabble and do
little to explain the influence of broader historical factors.
Geeks & Geezers (Harvard Business School Press, 221
pages, $26.95) tries to remedy that gap and analyzes management and
leadership skills by looking at how the events of an era shape the
personas and habits of leaders.
The book is billed as the first cross-generational study of
leaders. The authors use their interviews with 43 leaders (25
geezers, mostly age 70 and over, and 18 geeks, mostly age 30 and
under) to draw a range of conclusions.
“We see era as important, not because it defines individuals,
but because it presents them with a shared history and culture and
a specific arena in which to act,” write University of Southern
California professor Warren G. Bennis and management consultant
Robert J. Thomas.
The “geeks” profiled range from Dan Cunningham, who founded
several businesses, including an on-line retailer of fresh
chocolates, to Wendy Kopp, who founded “Teach For America,” which
places young people in teaching positions in poor school
districts.
The “geezers” ranged from former congressman and New York
University president John Brademas to award-winning architect Frank
Gehry.
Bennis and Thomas contend that despite the varied experiences of
their subjects, one can draw some conclusions about each
generation’s approach to leading.
Unfortunately, the authors don’t sufficiently explain how
members of the same generation can have such disparate reactions to
the same political and social events.
One could just as easily argue that a person’s socioeconomic,
educational and regional background is as good a predictor of his
leadership style and qualities as is the generation into which he
was born.
For instance, although Presidents Bill Clinton and Lyndon
Johnson were a generation apart, they shared personal peccadilloes
and an amoral approach to governing. Their similarly modest
childhoods in the South and single-minded pursuits of the
presidency caused them to see the world similarly.
Because Bennis and Thomas don’t address the influence of social
class and economics, their book is the poorer for it.
Instead, the authors use their interviews to draw
generation-wide conclusions, some of which show an astounding flare
for the obvious.
“Yesterday’s leaders were specialists who sought and trusted
answers. Today’s tend to be generalists who know they need to ask
the right questions,” they write.
In other instances, the authors hurt their argument by not
discussing the negative ramifications of certain traits.
“Today’s society tends to value what Zen Buddhists call the
‘beginner’s mind.’ It implies fresh insight unfettered by
experience. In this more contemporary view, the compelling idea is
the novel one at an angle to conventional wisdom, itself a phrase
that implies a regressive reliance on the status quo,” according to
the authors.
Ignoring or being unaware of the past almost guarantees that we
will repeat the mistakes of earlier eras. The authors would have
done well to point out some of the errors business and political
leaders have made when they don’t understand the historical context
in which they are making decisions.
In many cases, there is no substitute for the experience of
having “been there, done that.”
The baseball playoffs began this week. One of the reasons the
New York Yankees are given such a good chance of winning the World
Series is that they have been in post-season play so often that
they know what to do to rise to the occasion. They often beat other
teams that, on paper, are better than they are because the Yankees
can draw on the experience of playing in high-pressure games.
Geeks & Geezers is most effective when the authors
compile the traits for success that their subjects share and the
book becomes a tip sheet for being an effective leader.
Among the attributes are a reverence for learning new things and
staying physically and mentally active, the desire to give
something back to society and a willingness to push oneself outside
a “comfort zone.”
While there are few new recommendations on the list, it is
sometimes helpful to reiterate the tried and true. It is helpful to
have a compilation of the views of such a disparate group of people
together in one place.
That is why Geeks & Geezers is worthwhile as a “how
to” book for managers but less effective when Bennis and Thomas try
to use their research to make generalizations about leaders of a
particular generation.
