Brief Biography
Bernard Morris Bass was born in 1925 in the Bronx in New York City.
Bass attended City College of New York between 1941 and 1943, during the early years of America’s participation in World War II. When he turned 18, in 1943, he left college to join the US military.
After the war, Bass earned his bachelor’s degree in 1946 from Ohio State University in Columbus.
He went on to obtain both his master’s degree in 1947 and his PhD in industrial psychology in 1949 from Ohio State.
Upon graduation, Bass was hired as an Assistant Professor of Psychology by Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he remained for 12 years, while moving up the academic ladder.
During 1961–1962, Bass spent an academic year as Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
In 1962, Bass joined the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania with the title of Professor of Psychology and Management, as well as Director of the Management Research Center.
In 1968, Bass left Pittsburgh for the University of Rochester on Lake Erie in northwest upstate New York.
In 1977, Bass moved to State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton (AKA University of Binghamton) in the south-central part of the state, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor of Management, as well as Director of the Center for Leadership Studies.
Bass retired from SUNY-Binghamton in 1993, with the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
He died in 2007 at the age of 82.
Bass worked mainly in the field of leadership scholarship. More specifically, he is best known for his development of a theory—originally introduced by James MacGregor Burns—which has come to be known as “transformational leadership.”
Bass saw his theory of transformational leadership as a way of helping leaders of organizations to develop the character traits (“charisma”) necessary to inspire trust in their employees.
He further noted that leaders must be able to cope with two diametrically opposed tasks. On the one hand, they must act as role models in the interest of their organizations’ current ways of operating. On the other hand, they must challenge their organizations’ current ways of operating for the sake of the future. The ability to resolve that tension is what he calls “transformational” (sometimes “revolutionary”) leadership.
Bass published more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, in addition to authoring, co-authoring, or editing some 25 books, notably, Bass’s 1981 updating of Ralph M. Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership (1974), which eventually evolved into The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications (fourth edition), with Ruth Bass (2008)—which has been described as “the authoritative resource book in leadership.”
At the time of his retirement, Bass was the world’s most-cited scholar of leadership.
Notable Quotes
Note: The original sources of the following quotations attributed here to Bernard M. Bass are provided where known. If no specific source is mentioned, then the attributed quotation may be assumed to derive from or (perhaps via paraphrase) be inspired by Bass’s many academic and popular writings.
Leadership
Leadership is the process of transforming organizations from what they are to what the leader would have them become.
Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations (1985).
The leader initiates change, communicates the vision, and gets buy-in from the followers.
The best leaders are those who understand the true essence of leadership lies not in controlling others but in empowering them.
The real challenge of leadership is not simply to execute a plan, but to adapt and shape that plan as circumstances demand.
Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations (1985).
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.
Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.
Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual or organization to lead, influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations.
Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader; they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role – always about the goal.
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
True leaders are not those who strive to be first but are those who are first to strive and who give their all for the success of the team.
The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example.
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Leaders and Followers
The leader must have followers. He who has none, leads only himself.
Leadership, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior (1960).
Leadership is an influence process—leaders affect the thoughts and behavior of others.
Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery.
Followers need to be motivated by more than just the work. They need to feel a sense of purpose and belonging.
Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.
Leadership is not about being the best. It’s about making everyone else better.
Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.
Leadership is an interaction between leaders and followers, between individuals, and not something one person does to others.
Leadership is a reciprocal process between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.
Leadership is about empowering others to achieve shared goals, not about exerting control over them.
Leadership Challenges
The greatest and most persistent blockages to the achievement of organizational goals are not external constraints but internal resistance based on deeply rooted, irrational, and unconscious fears.
Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations 1985.
Leaders’ Qualities
Leadership is not simply a set of skills or characteristics possessed by a select few individuals, but rather a process that can be learned and developed.
Leadership is not a set of techniques and processes. It is more about who you are as a person and how you act.
Leaders must be self-starters. But they must also start other selves.
Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.
Leaders can’t get far unless they are willing to ask others for help.
Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations (1985).
Leaders, if they are to be effective, require both managerial and leadership skills.
Transformational Leaders
The transformational leader looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower.
Leadership occurs when one person induces others to work toward some goal. The distinction between leader and follower is misleading. In transformational leadership, one cannot lead without followers, but one can be a follower and still lead.
Leaders do not need charisma to become transformational leaders. Charisma does not render leading transformational. Leaders must develop a wide range of skills.
Transformational leaders challenge and inspire their followers with a sense of purpose and excitement, thus evoking higher levels of performance.
Transformational leaders are the ones who inspire their followers to achieve beyond their normal capabilities and create change in the world.
Transformational leaders inspire and motivate others by appealing to higher ideals and values.
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