There once was a time when the dream of every office assistant was to make it into top management, where one could order people around, reward and punish underlings, and enjoy all the perks of royalty.
Today, the level to aim for is not top management; it's top leadership. The difference is profound: Managers change behavior; leaders change minds.
A manager manages things. A leader leads people.
A manager tries to keep things running smoothly, according to the norm. A leader is constantly looking for ways to stir things up -- to change things for the better. Instead of constantly looking for and correcting deviations from the norm, leaders encourage innovations that improve upon the norm.
Management is something you do. Leadership is something you are. You can learn to be a leader, just as you can learn to be a musician or a lawyer or a physician.
Your company's success depends on the collective effort of everyone who works for it. If individual efforts are anemic or flawed, the collective effort will be anemic or flawed. If individual efforts are exerted toward a variety of different goals, progress -- if there is progress -- will be haphazard.
So the chief task of a business leader is to establish a climate in which individual initiative can flourish and individual efforts can be exerted toward corporate goals. Here are a few characteristics of leaders who apply it:
Those who would be heroes to others must first be heroes to themselves. Those who would have others believe in them must first believe in themselves. Those who would have others follow them must trust in their own sense of direction.
Nobody and no institution can invest you with greatness; they can only recognize the greatness within you when you have found it and recognized it in yourself.
Source: http://www.nidoqubein.com/index.cfm
Today, the level to aim for is not top management; it's top leadership. The difference is profound: Managers change behavior; leaders change minds.
A manager manages things. A leader leads people.
A manager tries to keep things running smoothly, according to the norm. A leader is constantly looking for ways to stir things up -- to change things for the better. Instead of constantly looking for and correcting deviations from the norm, leaders encourage innovations that improve upon the norm.
Management is something you do. Leadership is something you are. You can learn to be a leader, just as you can learn to be a musician or a lawyer or a physician.
Your company's success depends on the collective effort of everyone who works for it. If individual efforts are anemic or flawed, the collective effort will be anemic or flawed. If individual efforts are exerted toward a variety of different goals, progress -- if there is progress -- will be haphazard.
So the chief task of a business leader is to establish a climate in which individual initiative can flourish and individual efforts can be exerted toward corporate goals. Here are a few characteristics of leaders who apply it:
- They don't tell people what to do; they help people decide for themselves what to do.
- They expect excellence in those around them and make those expectations known.
- They invite people to speak up, and they listen and respond to those who do. They welcome good news and bad news from their associates, knowing that they can't lead wisely unless they're fully informed.
Those who would be heroes to others must first be heroes to themselves. Those who would have others believe in them must first believe in themselves. Those who would have others follow them must trust in their own sense of direction.
Nobody and no institution can invest you with greatness; they can only recognize the greatness within you when you have found it and recognized it in yourself.
Source: http://www.nidoqubein.com/index.cfm
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