Leadership versus Management
The first leader to inspire me was my 9th grade guitar teacher. Mr. Larry Cole. He was cool…he was smooth…he was talented. He led by example and always took the extra time to make sure that I got it right. Not only did he teach me during the school day but he taught me after school hours. Even after 38 years, we still stay in touch. Larry Cole was a great inspiration to me. A man that I could look up to. A learned many things from Larry.
All leaders are managers but not all managers are leaders. Leaders influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. Managers enforce the leader’s vision. I would say that managers are leaders in training. Leaders bestow their mantle upon managers and managers manage. In other words, managers are the go-between between workers and leaders.
In Gary Yukl’s text book, Leadership in Organizations, Mr. Yukl contends that leaders command Armies, direct corporate empires and shape nations. Frankly, I would agree with some reservations. I have personally seen Army leaders fall from grace, corporate empires crumble and nations turn against itself due to poor leaders. I would add to Mr. Yukl’s statement, “successful leaders…”
In Simon Sinek’s TED YouTube video, how great leaders inspire action (Sinek, 2010), Mr. Sinek states, “So, where do you start when you have a program that's about integrating lives with passions? Well, you start with "why."”. He goes onto explain, “About three and a half years ago I made a discovery. And this discovery profoundly changed my view on how I thought the world worked, and it even profoundly changed the way in which I operate in it. As it turns out, there's a pattern. As it turns out, all the great and inspiring leaders and organizations in the world -- whether it's Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers -- they all think, act and communicate the exact same way. And it's the complete opposite to everyone else. All I did was codify it, and it's probably the world's simplest idea. I call it the golden circle. Why? How? What?” This is a fantastic revelation! The key is not “what” or “how” but it is actually “why”. Why a leader leads, why a company is successful, why others follow.
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