As I venture through new challenges in life, I am constantly aware of the leadership that is around me, that I am following and I am even aware of people who look at me for leadership. Leaders are human and make mistakes. That has often been one thing that has endeared me to the leaders that I am following… Great leaders recognize and work with their own flaws and also those flaws of everyone around them, and they do it with grace and mercy.
I recently listened to a couple podcasts about leadership and read a blog post that talked about leadership. Being behind on my listening and reading, they all ‘happened’ to come back-to-back-to-back as I was catching up. I’d like to share. I do not have any expectations that you will read or listen to all of this. I just want to “put it out there” and to make it available.
“…Because power in IT organizations tends to be based on head count, preserving jobs takes a priority. And when jobs have to be eliminated, they tend to come off the bottom of the organization when they should more logically come off the top — or at least from near the top. A tech who directly helps users is more important than a manager who can’t manage. This is especially true if that manager is making 2-3 times as much as the tech….”
Leadership: Post-industrial management requires a different skill set (listen)
“…Management is telling people what to do, which is a vital part of any industrial economy. Leadership is figuring out what ought to be done then getting people to do it, which is very different. It is a vital part of any successful post-industrial economy, too, but most managers don’t know that….”
Toward a More Distributed, Collaborative Government
“…In business, you need very strong and competent leadership at the top to effectively implement a distributed, collaborative model. Such leaders understand the limits of their power. They know they must hire the best possible people, listen to their advice, empower them to act and truly delegate responsibilities. The best leaders know that they must foster a spirit of innovation and collaboration across the organization….”
From what I know now and what I have experienced in my life up to this point, I think that great leadership is the most desired quality for any organization. I think a lot of people can figure things out and a lot of people can learn how to manage and get things done. Leadership is different than that. Leadership takes a willingness and desire to inspire, guide, model, listen, challenge, adapt, create, adjust, quit, start, build, reflect, document, and learn. There are a couple more verbs that I think are critical. Leadership requires that one must be personally responsible and one must be personally accountable. I think managers are plug-and-play. I think leaders are yearn-and-strive.
What are your thoughts about leadership or about this view of leadership?
I’m listening.
Filed under: Challenge, Ideas, Inspire, Leadership, Life, Listening, Motivate, Perspective, TechProfound Tagged: | LinkedIn
