Living in More Than One World

Warren Bennis, whom I wrote about last year, is one of the world’s top authorities on leadership. He’s also a great example of someone who remains relevant, in-demand and active in his mid-80s. I think a worthy goal for knowledge workers to aim for is what Bennis has accomplished: deep into what many would term as advanced years, people still want to know what he thinks, and many will pay for the privilege. His book with Burt Nanus, Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge, has sold more than a half  million copies, and has a front cover endorsement from Peter Drucker. (Last year, I saw Bennis give a thought-provoking presentation at one of the Drucker Centennial events in Los Angeles.) Now, at 85, Bennis has his first website. And at the same time, he’s published his account of a fulfilling, meaningful life, Still Surprised, A Memoir of a Life in Leadership (written with Patricia Ward Biederman, with whom he has collaborated previously). The website has lots of interesting material. He has published 30 books and countless articles, and there has been lots of positive coverage of the new book. You can also get a good sense of Bennis as a person from the photo page of the website. And if you want a short, tough, clear-eyed view of the responsibilities of the leader of today, read Diane Brady’s September 23rd Q&A in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Speed Dial: Warren Bennis. The art of brevity is celebrated in this quote: “Sound bites are important. A leader has to talk to people’s hearts. Sound bites give specificity, but they have to be relevant and meaningful and resonant.”

This is the first of an occasional series I’ll be writing on the Peter Drucker book The Drucker Lectures: Essential Lessons on Management, Society and Economy,published earlier this year. Many of the ideas and concepts will be familiar to his longtime readers. But these talks, from 1943 to 2003, two years before his death at 95, have not been published before. Each of the seven parts represents a decade, from the 1940s to the 2000s. In 1989, there are five knowledge lectures. Five years later, he returns for “The Knowledge Worker and the Knowledge Society.” In 2003, there is the four-part “The Future of the Corporation.” The collection was edited and has an introduction by Rick Wartzman, the Executive Director of The Drucker Institute, who writes a column, The Drucker Difference, for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Rick also answered questions for a 2 ½ page Q&A in my book, Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life. Although many of the lectures were given at The Claremont Graduate University, Drucker’s home base for the last 34 years of his life, the settings for some of the others are impressively varied. For instance, “What We Already Know About American Education Tomorrow,” was given as the William T. Beadles Lecture for the American College of Life Underwriters, in 1971. “Management in the Big Organizations” is from a 1967 lecture at a workshop for YMCA managers, in Estes Park, Colorado. “On Health Care” comes from a 1996 speech at the Harvard Medical School. Drucker’s voice rings true, and that’s good news, no matter what subject he tackles, or where the words were spoken.

Today’s post was inspired by a suggestion from my friend and Catholic University colleague Kimberly Hoffman. The new school year has started, and both teachers and students need a framework for managing themselves in navigating the fall and spring semesters. Consider these tips in the days and months ahead: 1. Coursework can be all-consuming. Make sure you are maintaining your health by taking some time for exercise and mind-body activities such as yoga or the Alexander Technique. 2. Determine what constitutes your “total life” during the school year. Make a list of all your activities and commitments (especially work and family obligations) inside and outside of the classroom. You will then be better able to summon the proper effort for schoolwork. 3. Make communication a personal priority, both in speaking and listening. Are you clear about the commitments and expectations for each class? 4. Inside and outside of class, look for activities that encourage the highly-engaged, mentally stimulating feeling of flow, as outlined by the psychologist/author Mihaly Csiskszentmihalyi. 5. Make time for reading of books in subject matters outside of what you are studying or teaching, even if it’s just a few minutes each night before falling asleep, or while riding on the bus or train. 6. Stretch beyond your regular subjects by attending at least one public lecture or presentation by a visiting speaker on campus (or at another local school) in another discipline. 7. Look for the sense of meaning in what you are studying or teaching, and how it relates to your life, now and in the future. You can help maintain a proper attitude and sense of belief in your abilities by applying principles from positive psychology. No matter how many of these seven tips for self-management you employ, I hope you find them useful. Additional suggestions are welcome!

A new, semi-regular feature begins on my blog today: “300 Words With…” I’ll be interviewing people I admire, especially those who exemplify the spirit of living in more than one world. Their responses will be (in the range of) 300 words. The first person is Tom Butler-Bowdon, who has written the excellent 50 Classics series of books; on self-help, success, psychology, spirituality and prosperity. In the past, I wrote about and interviewed him for USA TODAY.
1.    In what ways (day-to-day and otherwise) has your life changed in the years since your first book was published?

It was important because I could start to see myself as a proper writer, and work towards writing full time, which didn’t happen until a couple of years after. I thought my book would ‘set me up’ in terms of a career, but in fact it was just the first step. I had to write four more books before people really began to see me as an authority in the personal development area. Every day I do what I love, whereas before, although my career as a political and policy adviser was exciting, it was never fully ‘me’.  Now, there is really no limit to what is possible if I keep at it.

2.    You excel at synthesizing large amounts of information succinctly, and in a reader-friendly way. Any tips on how people can accomplish this in their own work?

Because I have had to read, absorb and write about so many books with my 50 Classics series, people always assume I am a speed reader. Actually, I don’t do this and in fact read every word carefully of the first few chapters. I believe that if you give a book this sort of respect, you will truly ‘get’ it. Once you have the essence, you can write about it comparatively easily. Trying to summarize from the first page in a machine-like way is difficult and a drudge, whereas the act of synthesis is basically exercising your natural insight and judgment.

3.   What non-work/non-writing activities do you find particularly meaningful in your life?

I enjoy cycling, running, swimming, spending time in nature and with my daughter. Beyond these things that have the power to refresh, what gives me real insight and peace is spiritual practice. This includes meditation (I usually attend a Buddhist group each week), and purposively giving up my day to God. That may sound wacky to a non-believer, but giving control to a Higher Power gives you great clarity and direction. You are like a pen in the hand of the real writer. I also read a range of spiritual literature; everything from Christian theology, such as Rick Warren, to New Thought writers including Catherine Ponder, to Eastern traditions and the Kabbalah. I feel it doesn’t matter where you get your inspiration as long as you get it on a daily basis.