Leadership
Leaders and managers, while seeming the same, are not synonymous. In general, managers conduct and organize affairs, projects, or people -- the tactical side. Leaders have followers, not subordinates -- they inspire, motivate and set the direction to achieve goals. The 21st century manager must be an effective leader due to the rapid and widespread changes in the business and organizational environment. For instance, most organizations are no longer simply local or regional in their operational paradigms. Instead, they are national, and almost always in some way (suppliers, customers, etc.), global. Globalization has brought the world closer in communication, economics, politics, and especially business -- and stakeholders are robust. The Internet and technological improvements have allowed instantaneous communication almost anywhere, and even poor women in India are using Smartphones to manage their banking portfolios. The idea of globalism continues to break down cultural barriers. As this continues it will be essential for organizations to not only understand, but embrace cultural differences and styles. This will require different types of management philosophies, and a new way of empowering employees at all levels so that both strategic and tactical goals can be met. There are five key behaviors that most takeholders expect from leaders in: (a) challenge the process, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) enable others to act, (d) model the way, and (e) encourage the soul as well as the mind. Leader roles are not always formal, but more psychological (servant or charismatic roles) than management, but it is not...
Leaders must not wait until things are so broken to fix them, instead, they must inspire a shared vision to get things done. To accomplish this management must empower managers to implement the shared vision as outlined in a strategic plan.
Everyone manages something. It is at what level of span of control, of detail, and of strategy and tactics that differentiate management levels. We can use the analogy of an airplane to understand different roles. When the plane is on the ground, the line managers who are examining the details of the machinery and equipment are in action. They are concerned with tactical matters -- will A fix B, will C. run, etc. Once the plane takes off, the middle managers take over -- they are the flight crew, and their concern is focused on both strategy and tactics; tactics for the specific flight and customer satisfaction, strategy because the pilot is looking at the individual situation from a broader span of control. Now, the VP of Operations who is in charge of all the pilots is looking not at one plane at 40,000 feet, but many planes, many people, many scenarios, and many operations. Their job is to provide support and strategic direction so the tactical managers can adequately perform their jobs. Finally, we have top management, the CEO who must look at the organization as a whole so that everyone can do their jobs, but also so that stakeholder expectations are met -- from the customer to the Board of Directors. At this level of management, long-term issues and broad-based strategies that effect change are important; whether…
