First, leaders need to have a strongly defined sense of purpose. A sense of vision. I have said for many years that this is the essential difference between leading and managing — that leading means doing the right things while managing just means doing things right.
Too many of today’s organizations are over-managed and under-led, because the people at the top are better at making policies, practices and procedures than they are at creating a compelling, overarching vision. They are managers, not leaders. They are looking at how to achieve greater efficiency and how to control their systems and structures more effectively. They are looking at how to do things right. But that won’t work in the 21st century. We are going to need leaders who know what is really important to an organization in the long term, who have a dream, a mission — call it what you like — a strategic intent.
I use the terms vision and purpose, because, to me, they are the best ways to describe what I am talking about here. And, I think the leader’s role is not organization. It’s to remind people continually of what’s important and to create an environment where people know why they are there.
See full Article, in pdf format.
Posts
