Quit Managing and Start Leading!!
Quit Managing and Start Leading!!
These are just more examples of the hundreds of people that I meet - from entry level to executive level - who are disengaged at work. This brings up a good question. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? This question is the title of Lee Iacocca’s book, which I highly recommend for those searching for answers to our nation’s problems. It’s an open and candid conversation about the number one problem facing America: the lack of leadership at all levels - business, home, church, school, and government - of our society. It’s a sobering book, written with conviction and passion about the destructive forces of greed and envy.
Winning organizations leverage human capital, as they understand that intellectual capital is the only advantage they have in today’s highly competitive global marketplace. Ron Baker, a consultant to the service industry, states that, “you can’t measure or manage that which is most important.” “That” is people, the intellectual capital that is the lifeblood of an organization’s future. I wanted to share the following from his enlightening book, Measure What Matters Most to Customers:
I do not intend to dwell on the debate over the word “manager” versus “leader,” but in the specific context of knowledge work it is interesting to ponder where “manager” comes from:
“Manager is derived from the old Italian and French words maneggio and man`ege, meaning the training, handling, and riding of a horse. It is strange to think that the whole spirit of management is derived from the image of getting on the back of a beast, digging your knees in, and heading it in a certain direction. The word manager conjures images of domination, command, and ultimate control, and the taming of a potentially wild energy. It also implies a basic unwillingness on the part of the people to be managed, a force to be corralled and reined in. All appropriate things if you wish to ride a horse, but most people don’t respond very passionately or very creatively to being ridden, and the words giddy up there only go so far in creating the kind of responsive participation we now look for. Sometime over the next fifty years or so, the word manager will disappear from our understanding of leadership, and thankfully so. Another word will emerge, more alive with possibility, more helpful, hopefully not decided upon by a committee, which will describe the new role of leadership now emerging. An image of leadership that embraces the attentive, open-minded, conversationally based, people-minded person who has not given up on her intellect and can still act quickly when needed.” (Excerpts from Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte)
Following are the “takeaways” from this article:
* Manage yourself and lead others.
* Build a team around the values of trust, open and honest communication, respect, and performance accountability.
* Hire the best and get out of the way!
Another point to ponder:
If you think you’re leading and no one’s following, you’re just taking a walk!
Quit Managing and Start Leading - To learn more about this author, visit Byrd Baggett's Website.
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I want to warn readers that this article can, and hopefully will be, hazardous to the health of managers. It was written with the intention to both offend and challenge those who treat people as human cattle. I was inspired to write this article after speaking with two friends, one a mid-level employee and the other a senior executive with a company that was recently acquired by a corporate giant. Both calls were depressing, as these loyal and capable people were totally disengaged because their companies were so focused on the bottom line and, in their opinions, no longer cared about them. Worst yet, both of these individuals were considering leaving their organizations because of a genuine feeling that their respective companies no longer valued people.
These are just more examples of the hundreds of people that I meet - from entry level to executive level - who are disengaged at work. This brings up a good question. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? This question is the title of Lee Iacocca’s book, which I highly recommend for those searching for answers to our nation’s problems. It’s an open and candid conversation about the number one problem facing America: the lack of leadership at all levels - business, home, church, school, and government - of our society. It’s a sobering book, written with conviction and passion about the destructive forces of greed and envy.
Winning organizations leverage human capital, as they understand that intellectual capital is the only advantage they have in today’s highly competitive global marketplace. Ron Baker, a consultant to the service industry, states that, “you can’t measure or manage that which is most important.” “That” is people, the intellectual capital that is the lifeblood of an organization’s future. I wanted to share the following from his enlightening book, Measure What Matters Most to Customers:
I do not intend to dwell on the debate over the word “manager” versus “leader,” but in the specific context of knowledge work it is interesting to ponder where “manager” comes from:
“Manager is derived from the old Italian and French words maneggio and man`ege, meaning the training, handling, and riding of a horse. It is strange to think that the whole spirit of management is derived from the image of getting on the back of a beast, digging your knees in, and heading it in a certain direction. The word manager conjures images of domination, command, and ultimate control, and the taming of a potentially wild energy. It also implies a basic unwillingness on the part of the people to be managed, a force to be corralled and reined in. All appropriate things if you wish to ride a horse, but most people don’t respond very passionately or very creatively to being ridden, and the words giddy up there only go so far in creating the kind of responsive participation we now look for. Sometime over the next fifty years or so, the word manager will disappear from our understanding of leadership, and thankfully so. Another word will emerge, more alive with possibility, more helpful, hopefully not decided upon by a committee, which will describe the new role of leadership now emerging. An image of leadership that embraces the attentive, open-minded, conversationally based, people-minded person who has not given up on her intellect and can still act quickly when needed.” (Excerpts from Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte)
Following are the “takeaways” from this article:
* Manage yourself and lead others.
* Build a team around the values of trust, open and honest communication, respect, and performance accountability.
* Hire the best and get out of the way!
Another point to ponder:
If you think you’re leading and no one’s following, you’re just taking a walk!
Quit Managing and Start Leading - To learn more about this author, visit Byrd Baggett's Website.
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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