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.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Are You On The Verge Of Quitting
| |||
| I believe if you're an entrepreneur or in sales - you deserve a gold star!
Why?
Because we're people who don't get regular pay cheques like the rest of the madding crowd. We ONLY get paid when we SELL. (Now look i... |
|||
|
Should you quit?
| |||
| Have you ever felt like quitting something? Did you? Or, did you feel such pressure from your friends or family or yourself that you kept going despite the anxiety and stress you felt?
Sometimes quitting is the b... |
|||
|
Your Life and Business is an Echo
| |||
| You can recreate your business circumstances. |
|||
|
The Top 5 reasons that sales people quit.
| |||
| Do what you must to attract & retain good sales people |
|||
|
What Mistake Ends Your Hopes for Increasing Sales?
| |||
| Your sales are down, your self-confidence is gone, and you feel like you’re beating your head against a brick wall. Maybe you should just quit. |
|||
| |||
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 |
|||
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. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
|
Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean 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: http://www.business901.com Web/Blog: http://www.FundingYourNonprofit.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/business901 – Linked In http://www.twitter.com/business901 – Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
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 |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 Byrd Baggett (Visit Byrd's Website) As a nationally known author and inspirational speaker, Byrd Baggett has an incredible gift to touch the heart as well as the mind. He works with organizations interested in developing leaders and winning teams. His high-energy presentations on leadership, team building and peak performance have been delivered to signature clients such as Wal-Mart, Sprint, BellSouth, AFLAC, and Southwest Airlines. These content-rich messages consistently exceed expectations, as they have proven to increase productivity and improve employee morale by focusing on the one thing all organizations have in common – people! Byrd’s thirteen best-selling books on sales, customer service, leadership and motivation continue to enjoy international success. His quotes and articles have appeared in many publications, including Reader’s Digest, Bits & Pieces, and Selling Power magazine. His quotes are found on numerous products in the popular Successories catalog and retail stores and have been featured in SkyMall magazine. Byrd created the popular Dare to Soar concept. ByrdBag gett.com
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
| Leadership - 4 Characteristics of Great Leaders - EvanCarmichael.com expert Byrd Baggett discusses how leaders provide the sky that others may soar. |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Tax Splitting Example Pro-Forma Template 5 Step Action Plan Find It. Use It. The Idea Compass |
|
 | ||
 |
Write The PR
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009
Top 50 Niche Blogs 2009 | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||
