Leadership
Is Everyone a Leader?
Contrary to popular view, leadership is not necessarily the preserve of the person ‘at the top’. Nor, as many people have come to believe, is leadership the preserve of those people blessed with charisma. Why? Here are some of the reasons:
Come to think of it, as parents we play crucial leadership roles within our families.
The difference between “good managers” and real change leaders
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that’s assault, not leadership.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969)
In the midst of the sea of uncertainty and differing priorities between those at the top and bottom of the organization, a new breed of leader is emerging. These real change leaders have learnt new skills and approaches to cope with the competitive human and business complexities. They instinctively believe (and practice) the following:
Is Everyone a Leader?
Contrary to popular view, leadership is not necessarily the preserve of the person ‘at the top’. Nor, as many people have come to believe, is leadership the preserve of those people blessed with charisma. Why? Here are some of the reasons:
- In recent decades, re-engineering and restructuring have in many cases moved layers of middle management out of business structures, creating a greater need for coordination of communication and information. Flatter pyramids are pushing leadership further down the organization;
- Customers have more options and are more sophisticated – accordingly, those people who interface with customers need to have greater discretion, knowledge, and decision-making skills to deal with customer demands. No longer will the customer sit around and wait while you approach your manager for direction!
- A leader can no longer have all the answers and therefore needs followers that have more specialized skills and knowledge than she has. This is particularly so in multi-functional flexible teams and self-managing teams where each member has a specific role or area in which they might lead the team.
Come to think of it, as parents we play crucial leadership roles within our families.
The difference between “good managers” and real change leaders
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that’s assault, not leadership.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969)
In the midst of the sea of uncertainty and differing priorities between those at the top and bottom of the organization, a new breed of leader is emerging. These real change leaders have learnt new skills and approaches to cope with the competitive human and business complexities. They instinctively believe (and practice) the following:
- Tough, but understandable, standards and measures of performance in all areas;
- A set of democratic principles that tap the creative power inherent in every person; as well as consequence management, believing they can only truly empower people by requiring results in return;
- The essence of self-management being joint accountability (among both leaders and followers) for creating new opportunities (the basic approach is open dialogue and interaction to resolve conflicts and learn in order to grow themselves, others and the business).
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Key issues
Basic mindset “End-game” assumption
Leadership philosophy
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Traditional GM view Analyse, leverage, optimize, delegate, organize, and control it –“I know best”
“A few good people will get it done for me” |
Emerging RCL view Do it, fix it, try it, change it – and do it all over again; "No one knows best"
“I must get the best out of all my people” |
