Monthly Archives: July 2012

#135 – Management vs. Leadership?

In the class I taught on business management, one of the discussion topics was the distinction between management and leadership. The disciplines are surely closely related, but not synonymous. Management is primarily concerned with the efficient and effective execution of an organization’s strategies. It is the realm of operations – systems, structures, staff supervision and the implementation of policies and procedures. Leadership is primarily concerned with the strategic issues of the organization – defining and communicating its vision, mission, values and markets, and working with people – inspiring, challenging, encouraging, protecting, listening to and teaching, just to name a few of the people skills. Leadership is ensuring that the organization as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that all of the strategies are interconnected, consistent and integrated.

Food for Thought ~

There have been debates about which is more important, strategy or execution, leadership or management. Both, of course, are vitally important, and great companies exhibit excellence in both of these arenas. In fact, both disciplines are interwoven and interdependent. Individuals may be better at one or the other, and some are good at both management and leadership. Both are essential for an organization’s success, and it’s the best leaders who ensure that the management and leadership bases are fully covered.

Question for the day ~

Do you consider yourself to be a leader or a manager or both? Which one is your stronger skill set? Which role do you prefer?

I enjoyed and appreciated all the comments on last week’s post – thank you! I love it when my readers write ~ a nice completion of the feedback loop.

Mary

#134 – Happiness Leads to Success

One of the most compelling TEDTalks I’ve seen is by Shawn Achor, a Harvard PhD who has extensively researched positive psychology. His remarkable finding is that happiness increases our success, energy, and access to our intellectual resources. The neurotransmitter chemical dopamine increases when we experience happiness and apparently serves to ignite learning centers in the brain. His research findings contradict the traditional maxim of “If I work hard to achieve my goals, I will be successful and then I’ll be h Continue reading

#133 – TED Arrives in Sonoma County!

Many of you are probably fans of TEDTalks, the pithy online videos of outstanding presentations. TED is a non-profit organization whose initial focus was on “ideas worth spreading” in three arenas – Technology, Entertainment, and Design, hence TED. Their scope has expanded greatly since their start in 1984. A new program called TEDx provides guidelines for local, self-organized events based on the TED model. Here in the wine country, a team of volunteer leaders organized TEDxSonomaCounty. Many of the organizers are associated with Sonoma Country Day School, where the event was held. The first local TEDx Conference took place on June 16, 2012.

Food for Thought ~

The theme for the symposium was “A Sense of Place.” This topic was addressed by a dozen speakers from a myriad of perspectives. I was delighted to have been there in person, as this is a subject that has long captured my imagination. I have observed the vastly different attitudes, and subsequently different behaviors, people have about the “places” that matter to us ~ where we live, where we’re from, how we relate to the land, our surroundings, the natural and the built environments, our homes and our places of work.

Question for the day ~

What comes up for you as you consider this issue? As a leader, how does a sense of place relate to your work and to your organization?

Happily, TEDxSonomaCounty recently posted videos of their speakers on YouTube. You may want to start with the list of speakers on their website; click here to see which ones might be of particular interest to you. From there you can go to their YouTube channel to watch your picks, or watch them all! Here’s the link.

For me, the TEDx Conference was thought-provoking, educational and inspiring. It was great to attend this inaugural event, and I’m very pleased to share it with you.

Mary

#132 – The Next Step to Effectiveness

The topic for the past two weeks has been self-awareness, of both our strengths and weaknesses as a leader. As serendipity would have it, a very relevant observation by Stephen Covey, the acclaimed author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, came my way and I am pleased to share it with you.

Food for Thought ~

“In addition to self-awareness, imagination and conscience, it is the fourth human endowment – independent will – that really makes effective self-management possible. It is the ability to make decisions and choices and to act in accordance with them. It is the ability to act rather than to be acted upon, to proactively carry out the program we have developed through the other three endowments. Empowerment comes from learning how to use this great endowment in the decisions we make every day.”
Stephen R. Covey

Question for the day ~

What is your assessment of your “independent will”? Are you able to carry out the decisions, choices and plans you make?

Last weekend I attended an earthquake preparedness workshop. It re-kindled my commitment to serve as a messenger to my clients, friends and associates to please,”Be Prepared.” My column in the North Bay Business Journal is on the importance of being prepared for the unexpected. If you haven’t already done so, please click here to read the article.

Mary

#131 – Personal Capitalization

Last week I observed that the best leaders have the self-awareness to understand and manage their strengths and weaknesses. A conscientious leader will use their self-awareness to correct or compensate for whatever strategic weaknesses may be discovered.

Food for Thought ~

Even more important than correcting weaknesses, the best leaders learn to capitalize on their strengths. This is the true gold mine of opportunity. Just as in managing a business, where strategic weaknesses need to be remediated, the great companies are the ones that identify and capitalize upon their distinctive advantages. So it is with leaders. Last week I proposed several methods for leaders who wants to increase their self-awareness: rigorous personal assessment, 360 degree feedback systems, executive coaching, and spiritual practice, just to name a few. These methods equally pertain to developing strengths. Leadership is an occupation that requires a diverse set of skills. Very few people are good at all of them. Identifying and then capitalizing on your special talents, skills, and abilities will take you further faster than muddling along trying to be good at everything.

Question for the day ~

Do you know what your special strengths are as a leader? Have you tailored your work to minimize any weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths?

My recent column in the North Bay Business Journal is on the importance of being prepared for the unexpected. For those of you who haven’t read it yet: please click here to read the article.

Mary