Leadership is critically important, now more than ever. A leadership metaphor:
When my grandmother passed away, she could remember life before radio, refrigeration, movies with sound, cars, television, computers, microwave ovens, personal computers, internet, cellular phones… To say that the world has changed in the last 100 years would be a dramatic understatement. We have exchanged nomadic wandering for the horse and buggy, the horse and buggy for the track guided steam engine, the steam engine for the passenger car, and the passenger car for jet airplane travel, with commercial tickets already sold for space travel. The acceleration of innovation has left many in the world paralyzed, pinned to their seat. So what does this have to do with leadership?
The world of the past could be managed. Managers of the steam engine were guaranteed safe arrival at the final destination provided they didn’t derail the train. Managers of the automobile could be more flexible but the majority never left the predictable highway. Periodic references to a road map allowed the manager to successfully navigate to a destination. The leaders of the past world had the luxury of climbing into hot air balloons and dirigibles of long-range planning and overseeing the progress, providing direction and encouragement. Today’s “jet-age” leaders require split second decisions between infinite choices. React too slowly and the jet misses the correct destination, arrives late, runs out of fuel, or worst of all—crashes. Change direction too quickly and the external stresses on the airplane cause it to disintegrate.
The new successful paradigm for leadership is more likely to be compared to jet fighters flying in a tight formation. The leader in the squadron has earned the respect of the other pilots and the success of the mission is based on the combined skills of all the pilots working to fulfill their role. The leader has given up control to other pilots and has gained maneuverability.
With the increased maneuverability comes the ability to make mistakes faster, and also recover from mistakes faster. And although this paradigm “fighter-pilot” leadership style has not widely been adopted in practice, some forward thinking leaders have evolved further into “learning” organizations. Learning organizations could be compared to a flock of birds: many interdependent living organisms working together, staying true to an internal compass, buoying one another up, driven by ingrained cultural “rules.”
Managers Vs. Leaders
Good managers expend resources judiciously to efficiently accomplish given tasks. They make slight course adjustments to stay true to the mapped out course. Their authority to manage the resources, including people, is delegated to them. Managers are sufficient when there is a clear destination, a road, and a map. But what if there is an unclear destination, no road, or map? What if the world around the organization is changing faster than the organization?
Differentiated from managers, good leaders MOST important role is to: 1.) recognize that the status quo organization is not prepared for the future environment that is coming 2.) and change the culture of the organization to keep pace with the coming change in environment.1
Managers are delegated authority; leaders earn it. Managers are crucial for success; great management is tactically critical. Leadership does not require a title; leadership is a force, which can be used for good or evil. The clearest test of leadership is to turn around and see if anyone is following you.
Are you a manger or a leader? What kind of an organization do you work for– a train, a automobile, a jumbo-jet, a fighter plane, or a “learning organization?” What kind of leader are you? Where are you leading your followers?
Enough of looking AT Leadership; in the next blog, I want to shift my perspective and look ALONG Leadership.
1 This is not my original idea, but I cannot find the source of this idea. I believe it is from Organizational Culture and Leadership by Schein, but I loaned out my book and cannot reference it.