Leaders are all around the world. There are many different types of leaders in many different positions. Some leaders are known and others are unknown. Some are old while others are young. However, among all these differences, there is one area that leaders are of a vast importance. That area is in the world of business. As globalization occurs, the role of a business leader has been ever expanding and changing. The leadership styles of the seventies and eighties are no longer useful to the leaders of the twenty-first century. There is much more required of these leaders, and there is a much high level of performance that is expected of these leaders. Cultural diversity and an increased reliance on group work have caused many changes in the field of leadership. No longer can leaders be closed-minded and individualistic. Today’s leaders are people who have to be open-minded and they have to be able to function in a group dynamic. Stephen R. Covey and Warren Bennis are formidable authors in the fields of business and leadership. Therefore, the two books that have been chosen are Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey and Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis.

Certain characteristics are becoming increasingly important to leaders in today’s business world. The ideas of being able to work in different cultures and how to function in a group are becoming increasingly important. Leaders possess certain qualities such as a vision, courage, and an ability to motivate the people around them. Both Bennis and Covey look at these attributes of a leader, and give advice on how to achieve great leadership. Covey looks at leadership form an individual level, while Bennis looks at leadership in a group. This is a contrast that should be kept in mind when reading this paper. When reading one should continually be asking the question of which is better individual or group leadership, and why is one better than the other?

There are two purposes to this draft. The first purpose of this draft is to do a review of these two books on leadership. The review will recap the major themes of each book, especially looking at the most important points of each book. The second purpose is to compare and contrast the major themes from these two books. This draft will be split into three basic parts. The first part will be the facts of the two books. In this section, a discussion of the major points of each book will take place. The second part will be the analysis of the two books. In this section, a comparison of the major points of both books will take place. Also in this section, these major points will be compared to the major points that were learned in the Leadership classes. The final part of the draft will be a conclusion. In this section, there will be a brief summary and some final thoughts about the two books.

Stephen R. Covey and Warren Bennis are two renowned authors when it comes writing about business management. Stephen R. Covey is most known for his book entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Warren Bennis has written book such as On Leadership and Old Dogs, New Tricks. These authors have given insight on what it takes to be a leader in today’s business world, and the two books chosen for this draft are no different. In Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen R. Covey discusses how to solve some of the toughest dilemmas in business and one’s personal life. In Organizing Genius, Warren Bennis takes a look at what it takes to make a group successful.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The idea of process improvement is very important, but ultimately the idea of people improvement is key to the long-term effectiveness to any company. This idea of people improvement is the central theme in Principle-Centered Leadership. Covey feels that when people are committed to personal quality, innovation, and continuous improvement, then they are more likely to contribute their maximum potential to achieving the objectives of the company. The same principles that govern our personal quality performance also lead to our success in professional and organizational effectiveness. The ideas of this book are based on the seven habits that Covey set forth in a previous book. Therefore to fully understand this book, we must first revisit the seven habits that Covey feels are key to anyone in a leadership position in the business world.

The first of the seven habits is be proactive. Being proactive is associated with the ideas of self-awareness and self-knowledge. The ineffective people are the ones that blame other people, events or the environment. When you blame someone else, you have in effect empowered them, because you have transferred responsibility to them. You also transfer your blame to them, and thus you are given the chance to create evidence that supports your conclusion that they are the problem. The other end of the spectrum has the people who understand that they have control and they do not believe that they are the victims of other people, events, or the environment. This end of the spectrum, called increased effectiveness, people see that they have the creative freedom to make their own choice. Through experience, one can go from making quick, hot decision to making cool and informed decisions. The goal of every company is to get all their workers to this stage. Companies want to move people form the victim side of the spectrum to the self-awareness side of the spectrum.

The second habit is begin with the end in mind, which includes imagination and conscience. At the low end of the spectrum is a feeling of futility, and at the high end of the spectrum is a feeling of hope and purpose. Imagination and conscience are characteristics that are uniquely human. An example was given about animals that collect nuts for the winter. They just instinctively gather nuts but humans will examine the questions like, "Why not make a nut-gathering machine?" or "Why not get someone else to collect nuts for me?" Humans, unlike animals, have the ability to imagine a new course of action and the conscientiously pursue it. While imagination gives people the ability to think of a new course of action, conscience gives humans the ability to pursue that course of action in a responsible and effective manner.

Habit three is put first things first. Habit three associates itself with the concept of willpower. At the low end of the spectrum is a life of coasting and avoiding responsibility. People with little willpower take the easy way out, and exhibit no real initiative. At the top end of the spectrum is a highly disciplined life. People at the top end of the spectrum focus on accomplishing the highly important activities in life, but the activities don’t have to be the most urgent. This life is one full of leverage and influence.

The first three habits dealt with the primary endowments, namely self-awareness, conscience, and willpower. The next three deal with the secondary endowments. By exercising the use of the primary endowments, one gains the empowerment to use the secondary endowments better. The fourth habit is think win/win, and the endowment associated with this is abundance mentality. As people encounter situations, everything is seen through principles. For example, as people make mistakes, we don’t become accusatory, but rather we become compassionate. This occurs because our security doesn’t come from them, but rather our security comes from within ourselves. We are principle-centered. The idea of abundance mentality is that, as people become more principle-centered, they love to share recognition and power. The basic paradigm that resources are limited is flawed, in fact the capabilities of human has hardly been tapped. Abundance mentality will lead to higher profits, power, and recognition. On the continuum people move from scarcity to abundance.

Fifth on the list of habit is to try to first understand then to be understood, and this is associated with courage balanced with consideration. The fifth habit deals with the basic skill of communication, particularly the skill of listening. When people talk, the listener is normally selectively listening and preparing a response. However when a person truly listens to the person talking, the relationship is changed. People need to listen with empathy. People tend not to listen with empathy because they need approval. They lack the courage necessary. People must learn that they are the managers that are in control. The ability to listen requires constraint, reverence, and respect. Conversely, the ability to be understood requires courage and consideration. On the leadership continuum, people move from flight and fight instinct to a form of mature communication where courage is balanced by consideration.

The sixth of the habits is synergize. Synergy is associated with creativity and the idea of looking for the alternate solution. When using synergy, negotiators leave behind position and arrive at a compromise that is pleasing to all parties involved. This can best be shown through an example. There are two men and one of them wants a window open. However, the other man wants to keep the window close. One wants the window open because he likes fresh air, but the other wants it closed because he dislikes the draft. Now there is the normal compromise of opening the window half way for half of the time. The difference in a synergistic approach is that two people who respect each other will use synergy to look for different solutions to the problem. They may come up with alternative solutions such as open the top half of the window or turn on the air conditioner. As people begin to work as a team, a strong relationship is built. On the continuum people move from defensive communication to compromise transactions to synergistic and creative alternatives and transformations.

Finally, the seventh habit is sharpen the saw. The seventh habit is associated with continuous improvement and self-renewal. The idea is that of workers do not continually improve and renew themselves; they will fall into entropy. Entropy is where everything breaks down. Therefore on the continuum, one moves from entropy to a way of life that includes continuous innovation, improvement, and refinement. These are the seven habits of a leader. They are important because they are the basic principle on which Covey writes.

Now the underlying concept of the seven habits is that they are all habits that every human has in common. These habits are also what separate us from animals, since they exhibit our skills to communicate and think critically. All of the seven habits are very important, but the seventh is one of the most important when it comes to the concept of principle-centered leadership. The seventh habit incorporates the ideas of innovation and renewal. These are two key concepts, necessary for increased performance capability. There are three parts to a human that have to be renewed, and they are the body, the mind, and the psyche. These are the four concepts ones that every human has.

Diet is an important aspect to success. Many people still maintain an unhealthy diet and they lack the sufficient amount of exercise. They also lack the proper amount of rest and relaxation. The time people use to rest and relax is the time the body takes to renew itself, and therefore it is necessary for them to fully contribute. The ideas of diet, exercise, and rest are very important because they not only are the pillars of our health, but they also contribute to our well being in the other three areas. The problem is that diet is under our control. Disease and illness can be attributed to lifestyle choices, and people must learn to make the correct choices.

Mind is the second of the concepts. Intellectual growth must be a continual process. A company must remain a learning institution, but in order for them to accomplish this, the people who work in the company must continue their on intellectual growth. Leaders must look at themselves and ask the questions, "What am I creating?" and "How do I keep myself growing intellectually?" It is very important for people to continue to grow intellectually. For as they grow, leaders are able to maximize their potential.

The psyche deals with the emotional aspect of a human being. Emotion is a factor that effects the ability of a person to produce. Emotions effect our ability to have relationships with other people. If it is impossible for one to have strong, healthy relationships with our close friends and families, then it can be said that you do not have a strong, healthy relationship with yourself. Interaction is a large part of the business world today, and that makes the idea of a strong psyche is paramount.

In conclusion, it can be said that sustainable quality must be generated from an inside-out philosophy. People must first begin to live the process of continual improvement in their personal lives. Then, if they continually apply these principles in their personal lives, these leader will more readily apply the principles to their professional life. This is how an organization and a leader becomes and remains successful.

Organizing Genius is a text that dispels the idea of individual empowerment. There is a subtitle to the book and it is The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. The book does not focus on the aspects of individual leadership, but rather it looks at the new emerging idea of group leadership. Warren Bennis explores the idea that strong teams can create greater results than any individual is capable of. The majority of the book is an exploration of six case studies. These case studies included, the 1992 Clinton Presidential Campaign, the Disney animation studio, and Lockheed Skunk Works who developed the Stealth Bomber. All of these are examples of successful team leadership. These are examples of the new structure that corporations are moving towards. A look at these six case studies led to the final and most important chapter of this book. The final chapter looked at the six cases and established fifteen "take-home" lessons. These lessons are not obvious, but rather they come from real stories of collaboration.

Lesson 1: Greatness starts with superb people

The first task to creating a great group is recruiting the most talented people possible to lead the group. There is enormous talent and intelligence in the best leaders, but they also have something else. They have an ability to see things differently, original minds. The leader with an original mind has the ability to find interesting problems, and they also possess the skills to solve these problems. The leaders see connections, and they want to do the next thing, not the last thing. These people are deep generalist, not a narrow-minded specialist.

There has been an idea the a Great Group is just the lengthened shadow of a great leader. However this is no long true, because the paradigm of one great leader and problem solver is dead. The new global world requires Great Groups, and within those Great Groups are where people find their leadership. Oppenheimer, the leader of the Manhattan Project, showed no ability at administration and leadership, but when he led the Manhattan Project group, he was a great leader. A leader must find a style that suits the group, and does not infringe on everyone’s perceived autonomy. A leader must be decisive, but he also must maintain an atmosphere where everyone feels that their input is valued.

Inevitably, every group has one person that stands out among the rest. He is the one that has the original, unique vision. This person is normally the one who recruited the rest of the group by making his vision so alluring that they can see its success. The leader is the one who keeps the groups focused, and these groups a rarely bureaucratic. Everyone can speak to the leader, and he can normally make decisions on the spot. Most importantly, the leader attains a high level of respect within his group. His group because of his unwavering morals revered Kelly Johnson, of Lockheed Skunk Works. Johnson once returned millions of dollars, because he wouldn’t continue a project that he didn’t believe in. These are the kind of people that become leaders of Great Groups.

Leaders of Great Groups are not afraid to hire people who are smarter than themselves. Rather leaders of Great Groups want people with a high level of intelligence associated with their group. Normally the creation of a Great Group begins with the leaders great network. The wider the network, the greater the chance for a Great Group. Bob Taylor knew the greatest computer scientists of his day, and this kind of network yields a high propensity for a Great Group. Having so many great people in one group has a very good impact on each member. Your inclusion is a mark of your expertise; therefore every member of the group wants to perform as good if not better than any other member of the group. This competition leads to all members maximizing their potential.

This is somewhat obvious, but the people involved in a Great Group must share the same goals and ideas. Rotblat was a scientist who started working on the Manhattan Project, and he was the only one who left because of moral reasons. Rotblat could not believe that the Manhattan Project was going to be kept secret from the rest of the world. Although Rotblat was a great physicist, he was unsuitable for the Manhattan Project, because his views opposed the views of the group. Although the people in the group must be able to work together, it is not a necessity for them to like each other. Feynman was a world-renowned scientist that was sought out to work on the Manhattan Project. One of his attributes was his frankness. He would tell someone if he thought their idea was stupid, regardless of who that person was. It was unknown of whether or not the group liked him, but that didn’t matter. Feynman made great contributions to the group.

Great leaders don’t recruit people for jobs, but rather they recruit people for crusades. Whenever people join a Great Group sacrifice is involved. The computer programmers, who were fueled by Coke and pizza, did not mind their situation because they knew the cause they were working for was great, or at least the leader made them feel that it was great. James Carville was truly adept at this task. He was able to fire up the workers and volunteers in the Clinton War Room. He made them believe that their task had a purpose, and also that the work was fun.

Great Groups are isolated. They need to be separate from the rest of society in order to accomplish their goals. The Manhattan Project was stationed in Los Alamos, which was located in the deserts, miles outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lockheed Skunk Works developed the Stealth Bomber. This project was done behind many closed doors, and the group worked as a separate entity within Lockheed Skunk Works. However these groups aren’t separate from the mainstream culture, conversely they are a subculture that possesses their own language, customs, style of dress, and all the other attributes of a culture. Working in a Great Group is a charged atmosphere, and sometimes when one person looks across they see more than a colleague. This element is just another example of how Great Groups become a subculture.

Great Groups will inevitably view themselves as the feisty David to the establishment’s Goliath. Much of the inspiration and happiness of the group comes from this view. It is the view that they are the upstarts that are going to steal the prize from the larger, but less capable competitor. Steve Jobs of Macintosh was very successful in doing this, against the industry giant IBM. He was able to market his new upstart Macintosh as just that new. He used the slogan "It’s not your father’s computer." Also Clinton was successful in establishing underdog status. He was running against George Bush, who was the incumbent represented the establishment. This idea gave the Clinton campaigners a invigorated sense of enthusiasm.

An enemy may be real of manufactured, but an enemy is a necessity of war. An enemy raises the stakes of competition. The purpose of the enemy is to help a group rally and define itself. An enemy also helps motivation. Competition with an outside force seems to enhance creativity.

People in Great Groups fall in love with the project. The project is all they see, and it is all that they care about. It is all they talk and think about. It is the only place that they want to be.

Great groups don’t fold in the face of complexity. In fact the difficulty adds to their enjoyment. The people in Great Groups feel that they can do anything. They normally are young, energetic people who have yet to reach their own limits. Talented people who feel that they can accomplish them accomplish great things. Optimistic people are those who can continue in the face of defeat, and this idea can become a major factor in creating a Great Group.

If someone is in the incorrect position their potential will not be maximized. Such gifted people are not interchangeable and they cannot be moved from one task to another. These people must allowed to find the job that is right for them, and then the work can proceed with passion. In a Great Group, the workers must be allowed to find their workplace bliss, the correct position.

group will usually reflect the leaders knowledgeable understanding of what brilliant people want. Most leaders also want a challenge, but not any challenge. They want a challenge that is worthy of them, one that will allow a complete exploration of their talents. Leaders also want to surround themselves with colleagues who stimulate and challenge their own capabilities. A leader of a Great Group wants colleagues who he can admire. What a leader doesn’t want are menial duties and tasks. Therefore, a leader will strip the workplace of all nonessentials.

Great Groups always remember that there is a deadline. They are a place of action, not just a think tank. The task is the glue that binds the group together, but the group must focus on the work until it is completed. As Steve Jobs like to say, "Real artists ship."

The true reward for the participants of a Great Group is the creative process itself. It makes people feel good when they accomplish hard work, and work well. People who have been in Great Groups never forget them. If given the chance to do good work in a cause they believe in, people will work tirelessly and very hard for no reward greater than the one they give themselves, which may amount to a pat on the back.

Groups versus individuals. This is the largest contrast between Organizing Genius and Principle-Centered Leadership. Bennis makes the statement that the days of individual leaders are dead, but yet Covey writes for individual leaders. Covey does not make statements about how these seven principles can create a very effective group. Rather these qualities, such as be proactive and sharpen the saw, are qualities geared for an individual. On the other hand, Bennis’s fifteen lessons are geared for groups. Bennis talks about the creation of a Great Group, and what it takes to maintain a Great Group. The two views of the authors are opposing views. Although there are similarities between some of the individuals habits and lessons.

The largest of the similarities comes with habit six. For Covey, the sixth habit to leadership is synergize. Synergy means working together as a group to find alternative solutions to a problem. The example was given of the window being opened or closed. Synergy is key to the success of a group. Covey talks of synergy between individuals within a negotiating process. He discusses the idea that in negotiating, people move from defensive communication towards the other end of the spectrum. That other end is the end of creative alternatives and transformations. Covey uses the example of the open or closed window to show the two different forms of negotiating. The normal way is half-open, for half the time. However, in his example of synergy the two people generate ideas such as open the top half of the window or turn on the air conditioner. These are synergistic ideas, because they seek to please everyone involved with the decision. This is the basic idea of synergy.

Synergy is brought out by Covey for an individual leader, yet synergy is most closely associated with groups, especially Great Groups. Bennis give fifteen "take-home" lesson in Organizing Genius. While all these lessons are different, there is one uderlying factor within all of them. That underlying factor is synergy. While Bennis agrees that for each group there will be a strong leader, he also reinforces the point that in a Great Group all members must feel that their input is valued. A Great Group will know that it is a group of highly talented people working towards achieving one goal. The thing is that there are many different steps to achieving that one goal, and there are also many problems that will be encountered along the way. When these problems are encountered, all members must feel that their input to a solution is valued and considered. Otherwise problems of respect can occur. When a someone in a group lacks the respect of a group, he can no longer function as a meaningful part of the group. Synergy is allowing everyone to speak their mind, respecting what everyone has to say, and then finally generating the best possible solution to overcome the problem.

Cultural synergy was a topic that was discussed in Practical Applications of Leadership. As globalization occurs the world is shrinking, and there is increased interaction between people of different cultures. This means that people within different cultural systems will be working much more closely together, than was ever previously needed. Once again respect is key to success. People cannot be parochial or even ethnocentric in order to be synergistic. Parochialism is thinking that there is only one way and that is our was, and ethnocentrism is thinking that there is more than one way, but our way is the best way. Cultural synergy is generating new solutions to problems. Obviously culture breeds diversity, but this diversity will have to be overlooked for success to be achieved. Bennis says that Great Groups are made up of great people. He then continues to say that these great people must possess the ability to work together, and that is the key to synergy. When groups synergize, the likelihood for success is greatly improved.

Being understood is the most important aspect of communication. One can talk and say some of the most brilliant things. However if no one else understands the ideas, they are useless. There is two parts to the system of communication. The first part is that of the speaker. The speaker needs to speak coherently and correctly. He must be able to convey his ideas in a manner that allows the rest of the people around him to understand what he is saying. When saying understand, it is not just in the verbal sense of the word for there is more to understanding than just the spoken word. The speaker must be able to convey his ideas so that the people can conceptualize his idea and have full knowledge of what he expects to be accomplished. The second half of the process is the listening portion. To be a good listener, you have to listen with a passion. Many times, people are trying to gather their response while the other person is talking, but Covey asserts that one must listen with empathy. In order to listen, one must possess the reverence and respect for the speaker. Then, when the speaker speaks, the listeners will truly listen. Listening is a very important skill today, because sometimes it is the only way to overcome difficulties. Bad listening can lead to a misunderstanding.

The ambiguity of culture can cause problems, and that is where Covey’s idea of first understanding, then being understood is seen. Covey feels that a great communicator will have respect and reverence for those who are speaking, and he will also possess courage balanced with consideration when speaking himself. This idea of a balance between courage and consideration is an interesting one. What exactly is Covey speaking of when he mentions this balance? What Covey is saying is that a leader first needs the courage to speak his mind. Many times, a leader is in opposition to the status quo and the establishment. It takes courage for a leader to speak out against the establishment because it can be very dangerous for him to do so. As for the consideration, a leader must possess the ability to speak at the level of his followers. To use an everyday example, a doctor cannot talk to his patient in medical jargon. If the patient has the flu, the doctor must have the consideration to inform the patient, "You have the flu." If the doctor were to use the medical term the patient may become greatly confused. The same is true for followers, a leader must speak at their level. He cannot use large or confusing term that may frighten the followers. Also any term that is ambiguous can cause problems later on. Therefore the leader must possess the consideration of keeping his followers in mind when he is communicating to them.

Conversely, Bennis does not even mention the requirement of being a good listener, and considering who you are talking to. Communication is also important to Bennis, but in a different manner. Communication is important to Bennis only to recruit and motivate the others in the group. The first time Bennis mentions communication is in Lesson three. Lesson three discusses the idea that the leader is usually the one who recruits the rest of his group by making his vision sound very alluring. The leader also uses his communication skills to keep the group motivated and focused on accomplishing the goal at hand. When Disney first told people, he was going to make an animated feature film, many thought he was crazy. However, Walt Disney possessed the communication skills that first enabled him to recruit the best in the field, and then to keep them motivated until the work had be satisfactorily accomplished. However consideration is not a factor to Bennis, because Bennis suggests recruiting people as intelligent if not more intelligent than the leader. Therefore the level at which you speak is unimportant. During the Manhattan Project, the workers could use the technical language, because they were all physicists, and they all understood the technical jargon. Also since the people had a vast prior knowledge of the subject, being a good listener was also not as important as it was to Covey. It wasn’t as important to Bennis, because he felt that if one missed something, his prior knowledge could fill in the blank.

Goal setting is an important part of any business project. People always want to know what the ultimate goal. Also goal setting can function as a way of keeping the group focused. By setting goals throughout the project a leader can ensure that the project is proceeding in a timely manner, as well as using the short term goals as benchmarks to ensure that the project is being done correctly. It is much easier to correct a problem at the beginning of a project rather than at the end. These goals will also motivate the workers. The workers will look at the short and long term objectives and strive to accomplish them, especially if they truly believe in the cause that they are working towards. Then is the benefit of knowing the cause you are working for. Had the true objective of the Manhattan Project not been stated to the workers, Rotblat might not have left. Then as the project progressed and he realized what was happening, Rotblat could have created an even greater problem because he would have been unable to function with the group to achieve their objective. Therefore, setting objectives can be a useful tool for any leader.

Covey speaks of goal setting in his second habit. Begin with the end in mind is what Covey says. Covey speaks of how imagination and conscience are the two characteristics that make humans unique from animals. However, as a leader, it is important to focus and control these two attributes. By goal setting leaders focus the creative energy of their workers. Imagination is a very powerful tool, and it should be used to the fullest of its capabilities. Imagination is what allowed Walt Disney to dream of his animated movies and imagination is also what allowed Steve Jobs to dream up the Macintosh computer. Even though their imagination was the resource that created these visions, their imagination had a goal in mind. After one has imagined a vision, humans have the ability to conscientiously follow it through. Once again goal setting is an important part of the process. By setting short and long term goals, Covey shows, that it is easier to conscientiously follow through with the goals as a guide.

Great groups ship is lesson fourteen for Warren Bennis, but exactly what does that mean? Simply put, Great Groups remember that they have deadlines that they must meet. Bennis reminds us that these places are not simply think tanks. While Covey stresses the use of imagination, Bennis feels that it is just as important to meet deadlines as it is to imagine a creative solution to a problem. It is great if one can imagine a ver unique way to solve a problem, but if that plan takes three weeks and the project is only planned for two weeks, then the solution is useless. Also there is a bit of competition for places to produce. In today’s business world, one of the most important aspects is to be the first one to produce a certain item. Therefore, one of Bennis’s lessons is that the group needs to be a place of action. Once again goal setting is a way to keep the group proactive. The leaders job is to motivate the group, and by continually telling them that one aspect must be done at point A, the next at point B, and so on until the job is completed. The task is what keeps the group together, but the hardest part for a leader is to keep his group focused. Goal setting is one device used to motivate and focus a groups to work harder, faster, and better.

Initiative is a impressive force for a worker, but it is a requirement for a leader. Leaders see that there is a need for change, and they start the change. Leaders must be the ones to start change. Fir example, when cattle feed in a field they will all just remain near each other and continue to eat. However, the cattle will finish their dinner, and finally one decides to return to the barn. So he leaves the field and returns to the barn. The oddity is that the rest of the herd will follow this one cow and return to the barn themselves. The point of this example is that the one cow was proactive and decided to return to the barn. His proactivity caused a chain reaction that brought the entire herd back to the barn. Proactivity and leadership are linked in the same way. Everyone in a group may realize that there is a problem. Although, the leader is the one who will initiate the action and the start the process of change.

Covey’s first habit is just that, be proactive. He associates being proactive with self-awareness and self-knowledge. To Covey, someone who is not proactive is the person who blames everything but themselves for any problems that occur. The "pass the buck" syndrome creates problems in the workplace. As people begin to pass the blame to others tension roses within the workplace. The sense of trust and security is lost since no one will feel safe with the office. Leaders must accept responsibility for the good that they do, but they also must accept the responsibility for the mistakes that they make. The goal of every company is to get all their workers to a proactive stage. The person who is proactive accepts the fact that they have control over their actions. One reason that many people pass responsibility is that they feel that there is nothing that they can do. Leaders, on the other hand, do feel that there is something they can do, and therefore they take action to initiate change. There is one other aspect of proactivity that Covey mentions. He speaks on the idea that a great leader is one that makes informed decisions. Leaders must keep their emotions in check, because a quick, brash decision can lead to a bad mistake. Therefore it is paramount that a leader to make informed decisions in the correct frame of mind.

Bennis differs from Covey when he speaks of initiative. In fact, Bennis does not even use the word initiative. Rather there are a couple of lessons that Bennis uses that could be considered to discuss initiative. One idea that is recurring for Bennis is that of a perceived autonomy by all the workers in the group. In lesson two, Bennis comments that a leader must find a style that suits his group. He continues that the style must guide the group, but it should not infringe on everyone’s perceived autonomy. This idea of autonomy is where you can first draw out the idea of initiative. Autonomy, in a group, is where each person has the ability to give input, and to feel that the input is respected and thoughtfully considered. If people don’t feel that they are taken seriously, then they are less likely to participate. Conversely, when people feel that they are respected, they are more likely to participate and to express their ideas. The initiative is needed for these same people to generate the ideas they express. The second place one can find initiative is in lesson twelve. Lesson twelve discusses the idea of placing the right people in the right positions. When people are in the right positions, they are happy. Happiness leads to productivity. When a person is not happy, they will lack the initiative to start new projects and even work diligently on the ones that are in progress. If they do not work diligently to pursue a project, then deadlines will be missed. This leads to other problems. Therefore, another important aspect of leadership is finding the right niche for everyone.

Renewal is key to the longevity of a leader. The idea of renewal can be equated to a vacation for a leader. Everyone, regardless of being a leader or not, needs a time to take a break. The break gives everyone a chance to recharge their battery that fuels their work. As people continue to work their productivity will drop. The drop is due to a number a factors including fatigue, burn out due to repetition, and even the fact that a leader will lose sight of the primary objective. In order to deal with this the concept discussed earlier in leadership was the idea of stepping off the dance floor. A leader, sometimes, needs to step off the dance floor and survey the situation. When he becomes detached from a situation, the leader can first deal see the whole situation in a fair and objective manner. Then after a complete survey, the leader can refine and adapt the process so as to improve productivity. Finally, when a leader does resume his work in the field, he will feel reinvigorated, because he will feel a new sense of hope and motivation. The chance to become removed from the situation, a leader gets a chance to not only review the ultimate objective and how far is left to go, but the leader also gets to see how far they have come. Seeing the progress made give the leader and his followers new motivation after seeing some of the successful work they have accomplished.

The seventh and final habit for Covey is "sharpen the saw." Covey stresses the importance of renewal in the process of being a leader. When people are not given a chance for renewal, there is a greater chance for the system to fall apart. Successful leadership, today, is a group of people working together. The important thing is that everyone must be able to accomplish their fair share. When one person loses ground, the entire group loses ground. Covey warns that without renewal, a person will fall into entropy. Entropy is when the system falls apart. On the other side, Covey discusses the benefits of renewal. Renewal brings each person a chance for innovation, improvement, and refinement. These are the three thing that will improve productivity and quality. An important catch phrase in business today is Total Quality Management(TQM). Covey would say that in order for management to achieve TQM, everyone must be given a chance to sharpen the saw. Production can become repetitious and when that happens productivity will fall because people will fall into patterns. These patterns will consist of certain rhythms and ways of doing things. When renewal takes place, the same people receive the chance to look at the way they do thing and generate and implement new ways for people to work.

Once again Bennis does not explicitly mention renewal, and as was the case for initiative some of Bennis’s lessons do discuss a form of renewal. The first of these is in the last of the lessons. Lesson fifteen discusses the rewards for a Great Group. Bennis says that the greatest reward is the creative process itself. People in Great Groups will work diligently around the clock for a cause they believe in. They know that there is no great reward at the end of the process, yet they will give the cause everything they have. Why? Bennis’s answer is very simple, and that answer is the feeling the people get when they accomplish the task. When people achieve the task and they have preformed well, people feel good. They feel good about themselves because the group did a good job, but more importantly they did a good job. Self-recognition is a very important aspect of a person’s well being. When people are able to pat themselves on the back for a job well done, it helps them to perform just as well on the next task. The second time we find the idea of renewal in Bennis is in lesson thirteen. Lesson thirteen is when Bennis introduces the idea of alleviating unnecessary burdens. Bennis says that leaders in Great Groups will eliminate the unnecessary burdens and give the group only what they need. The elimination of unnecessary burdens is a form of renewal. By eliminating these burdens, the group is free to continue without fear of wasting their time. Also since everything being done is necessary, the need to innovate the process is almost eliminated. Eliminating any unnecessary burden from the group will make their job that much easier and more relaxing.

As was stated at the beginning of the analysis, the most prominent contrast between Covey and Bennis is that Covey’s book deals with individuals, while Bennis’s book deals with groups. In today’s business world, increased interaction has increased interaction between people. Group work and synergy are becoming commonplace in today’s business world. Cultural diversity has caused people to become more educated on the differences that exist between people. Still the question lingers as to what the key to success in leadership is. The individuals bring unique qualities to leadership. Decision-making by an individual can be decisive, while a group could become cumbersome if no strong leader emerges. On the other hand, a group has the ability to generate more possible solutions than any one individual could. So one asks which is more important to leadership, the individual or the group. The answer is both are very important.

The individuals are the building blocks for the group. In fact Bennis brings up this idea in his first lesson when he states that greatness starts with superb people. Greatness starts with finding the most intelligent people to lead the group. The leaders of a group have a vast array of knowledge, but they also have the ability to look at a situation from a different angle. One of the pillars of leadership is having a vision. The vision is what sets a leader apart from the rest of the group. He is the one that has established the objective for the group, and the vision is also what keeps the group focused. Leaders see the problems that need to be addressed, but these great people also have the mind to find a solution to the problem. Leaders can find solutions to the hardest problems, and they accomplish the objectively doing the next step, not trying to jump to the last step. Finally group leaders are not narrow-minded, but rather they are deep generalists. The leader is the most important part of a group, and therefore it can be concluded that a group would be unable to function to its fullest capacity if the individuals were not great themselves.

Individuals are very important when it comes to leadership, but in today’s business world, the group has become increasingly important. Today, the group has become the basis for almost all business functions. Very rarely is business conducted between two people, rather it is done between two teams. This means, that today, business is conducted between six or more people. Therefore it is increasingly important for people to understand how t function in a group. Functioning in a group dynamic is much different than functioning as an individual. The obvious difference is that in a group more people are involved in the decision-making process. Yes, it is safe to say that in every group one person will be the leader of that group. Although this is true, the group cannot be successful unless everyone participates. There needs to be respect on two level in a group. First everyone in all groups involved must respect each other. The second level is that everyone in the group must respect each other. Without this respect between colleagues, the group is doomed to fail.

Perhaps then, the true key to success in the business world is the ability to leader by oneself or in a group. Basically the best leaders in today’s business world are those that possess two key skills. The first of these skills is the courage to be a leader. Leadership is a dangerous job, especially since leaders are opposing the establishment. Leaders need the courage to stand and initiate change. Scaling it back to the business world, a individual leader in a group is very important. That individual needs the courage to focus and critique the group. The leader needs the confidence to criticize the other people in the group. The individual leader needs the courage in himself to lead. Leaders are often called upon to make important decision. Do we accept or reject their offer? Should we continue on the present course of action or refine our approach? These are just some of the questions leaders must answer, and answer them very quickly. A man once said time is money. Therefore the individual leader needs the confidence in himself to make the decision and also believe that decision is the right one. The second skill today’s leaders need is the ability to synergize. Synergy is becoming a very important process in group work. The ability for groups to work together to generate the best possible solution for all parties involved has become the hallmark of group work today. The days where ethnocentric and parochial views were common are quickly dying. No more are people able to blindly believe that it is our way or no way. Leaders need a personality that everyone feels they can work with. This is very important because the group needs to respect and trust each other. When groups have respect and trust, they are more likely to generate a number of ideas. Any one of those ideas could be the correct solution to the problem at hand. Synergy is the wave if the future for business people. So it can be said that the most successful leaders in today’s world are those that first can function as an individual leader, but also function as part of a leadership team. Great teams are built around great people that work together in a great manner.

Groups are becoming the norm for business today, but there would be no great group without first having the great people who make up the group. This is why, Organizing Genius and Principle-Centered Leadership, are two books that go together. Covey discusses how one can become a successful individual, and Bennis discusses how a group can become successful by looking at past successful groups.

In Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen R. Covey discusses how a person can become an individual leader, but more importantly he discusses how the leaders can sustain great leadership. This book is very important for people looking achieve and sustain leadership. The major points of Principle-Centered Leadership are the seven habits that Covey had established in a previous book. Even though these point were discussed in earlier book, they are necessary for one’s success as a leader. In fact, these seven habits were so important that Covey revisited them at the very beginning of the book, and he revisited them throughout the rest of the book. The main point of Principle-Centered Leadership is that sustainable leadership is possible, but the change to achieve it needs to come from the inside out. Covey says that if people apply principles such as a healthy diet, rest, emotional stability, and continued learning in their personal life, then they will apply these same principles in their professional life. This is the road to quality, sustainable leadership.

Organizing Genius does not deal with the individual aspect of leadership, but rather Warren Bennis looks at the group aspect of leadership. Groups are becoming increasingly important to business today, and Bennis looks at how these groups can be Great Groups. Bennis applies the approach that we can learn lessons for the future by looking at the Great Groups of the past. Bennis looks back at six great groups. He looks at Walt Disney, Lockheed Skunk Works, the 1992 Clinton Presidential Campaign, Black Mountain Art School, Apple Computers, and the Manhattan Project. All these groups had great success and some of them had a profound impact on society. The Manhattan Project is one that no one will forget, because the creation of the atomic bomb is has changed the course of history forever. In the final chapter of this book, Bennis writes what are the most important points of the book. Bennis writes fifteen "take-home" lessons that are to be learned from these groups. Bennis looked at the way these groups functioned, the way the leader and the group interacted, and the interviews he conducted, and he compiled a list of lessons that are important to any successful group.

At the beginning of the draft you were asked to keep the question of which was better for leadership, the individual or the group. The individual offers certain aspects that make it unique and effective. Decisiveness is one of the most unique aspects of individual leadership. Also, groups offer certain unique aspects to leadership. Synergy is the most effective and important of those. Synergy is where a group brainstorms to generate the new and innovative solutions to problems that they encounter. Someone once said that two heads are better than one, and that is true. The one thing that a group can offer that an individual cannot, is many more ideas coming from many different angles. At the end of the analysis portion of the draft, the idea that a combination of both individual and group leadership is important. If you agree with that idea then the question is what is the correct formula of the two, in order to be successful in today’s business world.