GARY HEIL and DEBORAH C. STEPHENS are cofounders of the Center for Innovative Leadership. They are the coauthors of One Size Fits One and collaborators on Maslow On Management. Heil is also the author of Leadership and the Customer Revolution. WARREN BENNIS is Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and a consultant to multinational companies and governments throughout the world. Author of over a dozen books, including the bestsellers Leaders and On Becoming a Leader, Bennis's insights have fundamentally shaped the way we think about leaders today.
Warren Bennis was born in the Bronx, New York on March 8, 1925. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army, completed officers' training, and became one of the youngest platoon leaders to serve in Europe. He was awarded both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He received a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in Ohio in 1951 and a doctorate in economics from M.I.T. As an educator, he taught organizational studies at Harvard University, Boston University, and the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management. He was a professor of business administration at The University of Southern California for more than 30 years. He wrote more than 30 books on leadership including On Becoming a Leader, Leaders:… Strategies for Taking Charge, and Why Leaders Can't Lead. He also wrote a memoir entitled Still Surprised. He advised several presidents and business executives on the essence of successful leadership including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan and Howard D. Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks. Bennis died on July 31, 2014 at the age of 89.