Book Review: Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders
Please note, this is a terrible book review I created for one of my online courses. One of those last minute things, but I figured I might as well post it, anyways. (Just keep in mind if it seems stiff and formal... that's because it is. No magic tricks here, folks.)
Leadership Book Review:
Geeks and Geezers – How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders
“The ability to learn is a defining characteristic of being human; the ability to continue learning is an essential skill of leadership,”
– Warren G. Bennis & Robert J. Thomas
How do you define a leader? When you have leaders that vary so greatly in their ethics, beliefs, and political dispositions; how do you define what a leader is? Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas’ book doesn’t strive to identify how one should define a leader, but rather, it seeks to put in words what defines a leader. The title of their book summarizes it nicely, “Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders.” Bennis and Thomas look at two different groups of people, identified as Geeks and Geezers, the young and the old and their different interpretations of leading, learning, and living well in the course of their lives. Bennis and Thomas make a compelling argument that different types of leaders emerge from different generations due to the various challenges and opportunities presented by the times of said generations.
In the beginning, a new model of leadership is presented, “it is a model that explains how individuals make meaning out of often difficult events – we call them crucibles – and how that process of ‘meaning-making’ both galvanizes individuals and gives them their distinctive voice,” (4 Bennis & Thomas). The development model takes into account era, leadership competencies, and individual factors. In addition, the crucible plays a significant role; highlighting the potential leader’s experiences as well as their organization of meaning.
One of the things that stood out to me about this leadership text is the fact that it discusses the impact of era. “Era is an aspect of leadership that has not received the attention it deserves, given how profoundly it shapes individual leaders. 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,” (10 Bennis & Thomas). The book equates geezers, or older leaders, as analog and geeks, younger leaders, as digital. Thus, descriptors for the analog era are linear, maps, mechanics, experience, conventional warfare, and specialists. Descriptors for the digital one are nonlinear, compasses, living systems, beginner’s mind, terrorism and cyberwarfare, and deep generalists. This difference in era presents differences between hopes and aspirations for leaders of each era; such as geeks have more grandiose goals such as changing the world, and they place more emphasis on balancing their work, family, and personal lives, and they are far less likely than geezers to have had their image of a successful leader shaped by a hero.
The challenges presented to each generation were also very different. For example, the accessibility of information was very different when geezers were leaders at 25-30. The pursuit of an idea took place in a library whereas for geeks “the answers they seek are often only a few keystrokes away” (67 Bennis and Thomas). Even now, it occurs to me that I am reading this book for an online course for an online Master’s program; something that is still a brand new concept in the world of higher education. The variations in challenges being set aside, however, it is important to note that both generations encounter challenges. In fact, Bennis and Thomas often refer to said challenges as crucibles and they consider them integral to the development of a leader; no matter the generation or era that the leader is emerging from. I will say that the question I don’t feel is answered by the book, is how come some people engage with controversies or conflicts and emerge as leaders, but others crumble. They do end their joint-written text with a quote from Edit Wharton, however, “In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy, sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways,” (180 Bennis and Thomas) which perhaps is their subtle answer to such a question.
References
Bennis, Warren G. & Robert J. Thomas. “Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders.” Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
