“Leadership has been the subject of an extraordinary amount of dogmatically stated nonsense.” - Chester Barnard, an early AT&T executive and organizational theorist.
Most of what’s been written about leadership assumes that only managers and those appointed to be in charge of others need to practice it. In other words, it presupposes that a hierarchical, top-down organization is the best choice in today’s world.
I don’t agree with this assumption, for reasons I'll explain later. In a complex, fast-changing world, two heads are better than one, and the more relevant skills and opinions you can benefit from in a given situation, the better. Sometimes, a shared, collaborative leadership is called for. This requires that people at all levels take the lead whenever their experience and knowledge will provide additional insight and advantage.
So, I plan to explore both kinds (which are not mutually exclusive), and write about:
- how to develop individuals as leaders,
and
- how / when to create shared, collaborative leadership.
I'm often asked to explain the difference between managers and leaders. Here are some differentiating examples:
The manager is a good soldier; the leader is his own person.
The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
The manager makes decisions; the leader shapes decisions.
The manager initiates; the leader originates.
The manager’s eye is always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is also on the horizon.
The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
The manager knows how to tell; the leader knows how to ask.
The manager takes people where he wants them to go; the leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.
The manager concentrates on efficiently climbing the ladder of success; the leader checks whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
Tomorrow - how to become a better leader.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
More about people, a poem by Ogden Nash.
Ogden Nash was born in 1902 in Rye, New York, and educated at St. George's School in Rhode Island and, briefly, at Harvard University. His first job was writing advertising copy for Doubleday, Page Publishing in 1925 and he published his first collection of poems in 1931. He joined the staff at the New Yorker in 1932 and quickly established himself as a very popular writer of light and funny verse. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1950. His principal home was in Baltimore, Maryland, where he died in 1971. His one-line observations are still often quoted - two examples are; “People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up,” and “Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long.”
Here’s a poem of his about people and work that I particularly like.
More About People by Ogden Nash
When people aren't asking questions
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something.
All of which results in a nasty quirk:
That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough extra
money so that you won't have to work.
Here’s a poem of his about people and work that I particularly like.
More About People by Ogden Nash
When people aren't asking questions
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something.
All of which results in a nasty quirk:
That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough extra
money so that you won't have to work.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Avoiding conditions that encourage failure.
There are always brambles on the path to success. In 1969, Richard Beckhard at MIT listed the following conditions for the failure of change initiatives:
- A gap between what management says and what it does.
- A flurry of activities without clearly defined change goals.
- Confusion over ends and means.
- Too short a time framework.
- No linkage between different change efforts.
- Overdependance on inside or outside specialists.
- A gap between efforts at the top and in the middle of the organization.
- Confusing good relationships as an end rather than as a condition.
- A search for cookbook solutions.
- Applying intervention strategies in an inappropriate way.
- Trying to put new wine in old bottles.
The best opportunities for change occur where people are really bothered by their inability to cope with the current situation and there are no standard solutions. New ideas are most readily received by those in new situations who have something they want to get done, have few preconceived ideas about the right or normal way to do it, and have little to lose by adopting the new.
Victor Hugo said, “There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” Unfortunately, many people begin to realize the time has come only long after it has arrived.
Next week, we'll begin to focus on what makes effective management and leadership in today's world.
But first, tomorrow is poetry day.........
- A gap between what management says and what it does.
- A flurry of activities without clearly defined change goals.
- Confusion over ends and means.
- Too short a time framework.
- No linkage between different change efforts.
- Overdependance on inside or outside specialists.
- A gap between efforts at the top and in the middle of the organization.
- Confusing good relationships as an end rather than as a condition.
- A search for cookbook solutions.
- Applying intervention strategies in an inappropriate way.
- Trying to put new wine in old bottles.
The best opportunities for change occur where people are really bothered by their inability to cope with the current situation and there are no standard solutions. New ideas are most readily received by those in new situations who have something they want to get done, have few preconceived ideas about the right or normal way to do it, and have little to lose by adopting the new.
Victor Hugo said, “There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” Unfortunately, many people begin to realize the time has come only long after it has arrived.
Next week, we'll begin to focus on what makes effective management and leadership in today's world.
But first, tomorrow is poetry day.........
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Rules of thumb for change leaders.
The following "rules" apply to those brave souls who have to drive and sustain the change process:
Start by working on the issues that people care about today.
Keep a bias toward optimism.
Never work up-hill alone.
Find some friends in high places.
Stay alive.
Start a few fires.
Play God a little.
Be prepared to insist and persist.
It’s usually easier to beg forgiveness that to ask permission.
It’s always easier to plant a large garden than it is to tend it.
In the beginning, it’s all about possibilities.
In the end, it’s all about results.
In golf and in life, it’s follow through that counts.
Start by working on the issues that people care about today.
Keep a bias toward optimism.
Never work up-hill alone.
Find some friends in high places.
Stay alive.
Start a few fires.
Play God a little.
Be prepared to insist and persist.
It’s usually easier to beg forgiveness that to ask permission.
It’s always easier to plant a large garden than it is to tend it.
In the beginning, it’s all about possibilities.
In the end, it’s all about results.
In golf and in life, it’s follow through that counts.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
More on developing a change strategy.
- The change strategy is in accord with the values and beliefs of those who are affected.
- The strategy develops “critical mass” in each initiative. This means there’s sufficient investment of resources to move the organization beyond its natural inertia, particularly in the early stages of the change process.
- The strategy recognizes that new approaches are likely to be misunderstood, and includes mechanisms to get feedback about how people see the change process, so clarification can take place as needed.
- There are provisions to hear objections from those affected so steps can be taken to remove the obstacles they identify as these appear.
- There are choice points built into the strategy to permit revision and reconsideration, if experience indicates this would be desirable.
- The strategy takes advantage of opportunities where change is already occurring or is soon contemplated, e.g. where new technology is being introduced, where the business is expanding or contracting rapidly, or where there’s new management in place.
- There are plans to reward and encourage people for the effort of changing and improving, in addition to rewarding them for short-term results.
- The strategy develops “critical mass” in each initiative. This means there’s sufficient investment of resources to move the organization beyond its natural inertia, particularly in the early stages of the change process.
- The strategy recognizes that new approaches are likely to be misunderstood, and includes mechanisms to get feedback about how people see the change process, so clarification can take place as needed.
- There are provisions to hear objections from those affected so steps can be taken to remove the obstacles they identify as these appear.
- There are choice points built into the strategy to permit revision and reconsideration, if experience indicates this would be desirable.
- The strategy takes advantage of opportunities where change is already occurring or is soon contemplated, e.g. where new technology is being introduced, where the business is expanding or contracting rapidly, or where there’s new management in place.
- There are plans to reward and encourage people for the effort of changing and improving, in addition to rewarding them for short-term results.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Developing a change strategy.
A check list for success:
- The strategy has committed and observable support from the top management of the firm.
- The strategy aims primarily at involving and working with those who are supportive of change and improvement, rather than working against those who are defensive and resistant.
- The strategy, wherever possible, involves relatively healthy parts of the firm with the will and resources to improve.
- The strategy involves individuals and groups with as much freedom and discretion in managing their own operations as possible.
- The strategy links together people who are trying to improve how the firm functions so their activities can reinforce and complement one another.
- People who need to participate in shaping and implementing the change strategy see the outcomes as reducing rather than increasing their present burdens.
- Those who are affected by the change strategy feel their autonomy and security aren’t unduly threatened.
Continued tomorrow.
- The strategy has committed and observable support from the top management of the firm.
- The strategy aims primarily at involving and working with those who are supportive of change and improvement, rather than working against those who are defensive and resistant.
- The strategy, wherever possible, involves relatively healthy parts of the firm with the will and resources to improve.
- The strategy involves individuals and groups with as much freedom and discretion in managing their own operations as possible.
- The strategy links together people who are trying to improve how the firm functions so their activities can reinforce and complement one another.
- People who need to participate in shaping and implementing the change strategy see the outcomes as reducing rather than increasing their present burdens.
- Those who are affected by the change strategy feel their autonomy and security aren’t unduly threatened.
Continued tomorrow.
Friday, August 1, 2008
What to remember when walking, a poem by David Whyte
David Whyte is one of my favorite poets. He grew up in Yorkshire, studied Marine Zoology in Wales and trained as a naturalist in the Galapagos Islands. He's also worked as a naturalist guide, leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in various parts of the world. He's one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of work and organizational development, conducting workshops with many American and international companies. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Here is a poem of his that talks about the unrealized potential that most of us hide within us.
What to remember when walking.
You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents
you were invited
from another and greater
night
than the one
from which
you have just emerged
Now, looking through
the slanting light
of the morning
window toward
the mountain
presence
of everything
that can be,
what urgency
calls you to your
one love ? What shape
waits in the seed
of you to grow
and spread its branches
against the future sky ?
Here is a poem of his that talks about the unrealized potential that most of us hide within us.
What to remember when walking.
You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents
you were invited
from another and greater
night
than the one
from which
you have just emerged
Now, looking through
the slanting light
of the morning
window toward
the mountain
presence
of everything
that can be,
what urgency
calls you to your
one love ? What shape
waits in the seed
of you to grow
and spread its branches
against the future sky ?
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