ReaderStrength™

ReaderStrength™ is published monthly

©LeaderStrength Systems, Inc. 2004

Personal Transformation Shapes Leaders

Leadership books are at their best when they inspire us to find our own hidden leadership potential. The book titled Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, by Warren Bennis and Robert J. Johnson, inspires readers with stories of leaders - young and old - who have found meaning in life situations. Through the discovery of meaning, the people have found within themselves a deep desire to lead.

Geeks and Geezers is based on a study of leaders in the context of two very different eras in the United States during the 20th century. Bennis and Johnson, looked at what it was like to be an ambitious twenty-five year old between the years 1945-1954 (Geezers) and between the years 1991-2000 (Geeks).

The authors labeled the first timeframe from 1945-1954 The Era of Limits because people saw their careers in terms of working for a large corporation, in one career, in one field, and working for just one company. World War II was a fresh memory that shaped this generation. They respected how their parents struggled through the depression and the war, yet they were determined and even expected by their parents to "do better."

The second timeframe from 1991-2000 is called The Era of Options because the young people who reached that ambitious twenty-five years of age during this time had options that would have been perceived as too risky to the generation of Geezers. This younger generation was media savvy and globally connected. While there was conflict around the world, as in the Geezer's generation, it was mostly seen by the Geeks at a distance, through the media, not personally. Some of the options beyond working for a large corporation included being an independent contractor or a start-up entrepreneur who was simply taking advantage of new technology ideas and venture capital money.

Bennis and Roberts interviewed both Geeks and Geezers. These interviews uncovered a pattern. Even with the vastly different circumstances that each era brought, both groups encountered an event or a relationship that somehow created a personal transformation for the individual. The authors describe this transformation as a crucible. Here is an excerpt from the book to explain:

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crucible as "a place, time or situation characterized by a confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic or political forces; a severe test of patience or belief; a vessel for melting material at high temperatures."

Based on this discovery, Bennis and Roberts created a leadership model that includes a key leadership competency they call adaptive capacity. Adaptive capacity is the ability to adapt to whatever may come a person's way.

The authors gave many examples of a crucible in the stories they sprinkled throughout the text. This made the book compelling enough to keep me reading for examples of how defining moments shaped leaders. There was, however, one thing I missed. I wanted to find an explanation of my generation and the leaders who came of age during the seventies and eighties.

Since the book doesn't discuss that generation, lets have some fun. What could this generation be called? Are we the Guzzlers? After all, we did have the opportunity to take in the good life from our parent's (the Geezers) desire to "do better." We lived with the memory of Vietnam and the energy crisis. Now days many of us are driving gas guzzling SUVs and raising Geeks. I wonder what personal transformations shaped our generation. If you turned twenty-five between the years 1976-1985, drop me a note and tell me about your crucible. click here

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