When it comes to effective leadership and getting results through others, it is important to remember the differences between the concepts of "Leadership" and “Management." One easy way to remember the differences between the two is to remember this: Leaders should lead people while managing tasks, processes and resources.
To understand this, simply ask anyone if they would prefer to be lead by their boss, or would they prefer to be managed? Almost everyone would rather be lead. And, as you might imagine, managing a pile of paperwork would certainly be much easier than trying to lead it.
Here are some good reads on the topic of leadership:
"Authentic Leadership" by Bill George "Primal Leadership" by Daniel Goleman "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" by Dr. John C. Maxwell "Executive Intelligence" by Justin Menkes Think about a mindless stack of paperwork and then think about what comes along with your average human being. People come with a variety of complexities that makes it impossible to actually manage them as a whole. People we work with embody a multitude of attitudes, dispositions, histories, talents, troubles, families, preferences, values, achievements, skill sets, opinions and a ton of other components that make it very difficult to manage them through control. Leading people is actually a much easier task than managing people if you know how to motivate, navigate, and communicate with them as they are. If you don’t know how to do this, there's hope! With some concerted effort, you can learn these proven methods.
The books listed above are a great place to begin understanding how to do this. It will take practice, but the payoff is huge! The key is to focus on what internally drives each person you lead and make sure that you are aligned with those intimate motivators when your are trying to get a job done through the efforts of complex creatures.
Just remember, if people would come to work and leave that long list of personal attributes at home, then we might actually have a chance to manage them. Unfortunately, they don’t, so our focus should be on how best to lead them to achieve the desired results.
I hope this helps you in your leadership journey!
Tom Schulte | CEO Recalibrate Professional Development www.leadershippowerlabs.com
Leadership PowerLabs: “High-Impact Leadership Training fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span”™
To learn more about this author, visit Tom Schulte's Website.
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Tom Schulte
(Visit Tom's Website)
Tom Schulte is CEO and CRO (Chief
Recalibration Officer) of Recalibrate
Professional Development in Atlanta, GA.
His firm helps corporate leaders and their
teams to maximize effectiveness and
results through values-based
relationships.
Tom has spent over 20 years in sales and
marketing leadership and understands the
challenges associated in these fields. He
has combined his expertise in the numerous
sales leadership positions he has held to
develop High-Impact Leadership Training
fit for the Blackberry-Attention-Span.
They’re called Leadership PowerLabs™.
Prior to starting Recalibrate, Tom spent
four years as Director of Corporate Sales
for Maximum Impact where he worked for the
legendary leadership guru Dr. John C.
Maxwell. Tom took the lessons he learned
while working with organizations like
AT&T, Motorola, Ford Motor Company, NASA,
Pepsi, and the Federal Government and
condensed it into a short-format session
that allows people to understand
themselves, understand the people that
they lead, and understand how to motivate
them more effectively to get better
results.
Tom lives in Atlanta, GA USA with his wife
Brenda and 5 children.
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