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Be sure to visit my other WW: together we can fix it

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Nick McCormick’s comment left on George Ambler’s Leaders vs. Managers….. Are they really different? did a great job summing up my feelings on this perpetual controversy.

George cites Warren Bennis’ statement “There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Leading is influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion. The distinction is crucial”

In part Nick said, “To be sure, for a person to be a good manager, s/he must have many leadership traits. I like your last comment which references leading first then managing. Good leaders are good managers and vice versa….Leadership and management are very tightly intertwined. Ignoring characteristics of one is done at the expense of the other.”

I believe that they’re more than just intertwined, I believe the combination is what facilitates the adjectives ‘good’, ‘mediocre’, ‘bad’ and various shades in-between when people discuss those for whom they work.

George uses the following checklist from Bennis’ On Becoming A Leader to critique his own performance.

Being a bit of a heretic I thought that starting tomorrow it would be interesting to critique one or two items a day in light of today’s modern workforce and I sincerely hope that many of you will weigh in with your own thoughts.

• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
• The manager maintains; the leader develops.
• The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
• The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
• The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.
• The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
• The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
• The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon.
• The manager imitates; the leader originates.
• The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
• The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.
• The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

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There’s a common thread that runs through leadership teachings starting at least 2500 years ago with Lao Tzu, who said,

The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren’t there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him.

and

As for the best leaders,
the people do not notice their existence…
When the best leader’s work is done,
the people say, “We did it ourselves!”
To lead the people, walk behind them

Fast forward to 1987 and you have The 5 Practices of leadership from The Leadership Challenge,

• Model the Way
• Inspire a Shared Vision
• Challenge the Process
• Enable Others to Act
• Encourage the Heart

Today the hot terms are thought leadership and servant leadership.

The thread that runs through all this is that leadership is all about ‘them’, not about ‘me’—another reason that ‘politician’ and ‘leader’ are an oxymoron.

The other common thread is that leadership isn’t about what you do.

Leadership is about your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™); it’s who you are.

Leadership is open to all, no matter what you do, at work or personally, you have opportunities to lead.

So the real question isn’t do you practice leadership, it’s are you a leader or a meader?

Which do you work for? Which are you?

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Ah, money. Once you have it what to do with it. So many ideas, so little time. What are your famous favorites?

“Sex is like money; only too much is enough.” –John Updike, Piet Hanema, in Couples, ch. 5, 1968 (Too bad that too much of the former is no guarantee of enough of the latter.)

“Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth.” –Rita Mae Brown (Considering people’s penchant for breaking stupid laws it might even work.)

“Money cannot buy health, but I’d settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair.” –Dorothy Parker, In Writers at Work, 1956 (Me too:)

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Reviewing The Offsite Thursday and sharing the Lao Tzu quotes drove home the point that the best leadership advice is classic. Because it’s been around for so long each generation of leadership gurus and commentators usually discuss previous teachings in different ways using modern language.

As with most MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) related stuff, leadership information starts out simple (the best things usually are), and as it spreads it’s rewritten and reinterpreted to give it a fresh look and originality.

The problem is that this often adds density and opacity, since many pundits prefer multi-syllabic words and convoluted descriptions that require expert interpretation that result in consulting/coaching fees.

Look at the simplicity, ease of understanding and sheer beauty of yesterday’s three quotes describing leadership; feel how they resonate within your very fiber; then use them as a yardstick to measure the quality of modern texts.

Whose leadership description resonates with you?

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Bridget from Biz Chicks Rule was surprised that I don’t consider politicians leaders since “they tell us their vision and lay a path of guidance to show how we’re going to get there?”

To me, the ability to articulate a vision and describe a path a leader does not make.

My idea of a leader is about 2500 years old and comes from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching.

As for the best leaders,
the people do not notice their existence…
When the best leader’s work is done,
the people say, “We did it ourselves!”
To lead the people, walk behind them.

Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren’t there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him.

Do you know of a politician who fits these descriptions.

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Jennifer (another PNWer and sorta neighbor) over at My Organized Biz is having a fun contest that will benefit you even if you don’t enter.

If you’re like me and think that out of sight is out of mind and file cabinets are the devil’s handiwork, then you’re a visual organizer—think stacks on horizontal surfaces.

“However, vision is the strongest of the 5 senses and it can be used to advantage when organizing. I’d love to hear about the ways you accommodate your visual sense to help you stay on track.”

So if you have a bad case of the piles head on over and find help from fellow sufferers and if you have visual solutions you’ve got a shot at a gift certificate for Powell’s.

Go for it:)

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Much of the best leadership advice is classic and often lays the groundwork for more modern interpretations. This isn’t always good, but it certainly works in The Offsite, which bills itself as A Leadership Challenge Fable.

In it, Robert H. Thompson presents the philosophy taught in Jim Kouzes’ and Barry Posner’s 1987 The Leadership Challenge, which defined the 5 Practices of Leadership as

• Model the Way
• Inspire a Shared Vision
• Challenge the Process
• Enable Others to Act
• Encourage the Heart

So why read Thompson’s book?

Because in a short 200 pages, Thompson takes you to a company’s offsite meeting, filled with people you know (including yourself), to help you to understand that everyone’s is/can/should be a leader.

It proves in a relatable way that leadership isn’t about position. And, most importantly, drives home the fact that it’s not what you do but how you think that counts—leadership isn’t a set of actions it’s who you are.

I highly recommend The Offsite for those at the start of their business lives as well as for those further along the path. It’s fun; it’s painless; and it will make a difference.

I hope you’ll share your opinions after you’ve read it.

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Please visit my other WW: the human team

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If you have less than 100 people and your company is in the US you are, by definition, a small business.

Without your vision, hard work and sheer guts our country would be in far worse shape and our lives would lose much of their richness and depth.

Leadership Turn takes this opportunity to salute the thousands of small businesses that have created “more than nine out of 10 new jobs over the past 15 years.”

Considering what you do for us the name should be National Small Business Thanksgiving Week!

Have you hugged your favorite Small Businesses this week?

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