- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
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- 113
The Difference Between Management & Leadership
Some would define leadership as “getting things done through other people”. I disagree. That is management, not leadership. If you are going to be a leader, you need to transform people’s lives. When you ask people about political or religious leadership, they say that good leadership helps transform lives. When you ask people about business leadership, they say it’s about maximizing shareholder returns. Business leadership is not all that different from other types of leadership – there must be a transformational aspect.
A Prerequisite of Leadership
It is only when you empathise with people that you can begin to lead them. This is something that young leaders today need to know. You can take a young high-flyer and you can “hothouse” him all the way to the top. You will produce an excellent technocrat. But you will not create a good leader. Empathy is not required for good management, but it is absolutely essential for leadership. I have been in a position where I had despaired about my own life. I have the ability to empathise with the despair of others because I have “been there”.
6. I Need You to Disagree with Me
I Need You to Disagree with me
That is a challenge, partly because of my personality which as my wife and children tell me can be very dominating. So I try to tell my closest colleagues, who have been working with me for many years, who know my temperament and my personality, that I need their feedback and that I need them to disagree with me. I can’t help that my personality is dominating, or that I am short-fused. What I can do is to tell my colleagues “This is my personality, forgive me for it. Please know that I need your feedback, and I need you to disagree with me”. And thankfully, some of them have indeed given me good feedback.
Be Tough – Be Empathetic
My advice to young leaders? You have to be tough, ambitious, and have a good deal of self-confidence. You have to ask “why?” and not take things at face-value. Leadership is by definition elitist. You have to believe you should lead, that you possess attributes that others do not have. That is why it so important to develop that instinctive empathy early – to mitigate that inherent elitism.
In the eyes of Kwon Ping, do we have Leaders? Or Managers? Or Executives?
What do you think?
https://www.hcli.org/articles/reflections-leadership-ho-kwon-ping-banyan-tree
Some would define leadership as “getting things done through other people”. I disagree. That is management, not leadership. If you are going to be a leader, you need to transform people’s lives. When you ask people about political or religious leadership, they say that good leadership helps transform lives. When you ask people about business leadership, they say it’s about maximizing shareholder returns. Business leadership is not all that different from other types of leadership – there must be a transformational aspect.
A Prerequisite of Leadership
It is only when you empathise with people that you can begin to lead them. This is something that young leaders today need to know. You can take a young high-flyer and you can “hothouse” him all the way to the top. You will produce an excellent technocrat. But you will not create a good leader. Empathy is not required for good management, but it is absolutely essential for leadership. I have been in a position where I had despaired about my own life. I have the ability to empathise with the despair of others because I have “been there”.
6. I Need You to Disagree with Me
I Need You to Disagree with me
That is a challenge, partly because of my personality which as my wife and children tell me can be very dominating. So I try to tell my closest colleagues, who have been working with me for many years, who know my temperament and my personality, that I need their feedback and that I need them to disagree with me. I can’t help that my personality is dominating, or that I am short-fused. What I can do is to tell my colleagues “This is my personality, forgive me for it. Please know that I need your feedback, and I need you to disagree with me”. And thankfully, some of them have indeed given me good feedback.
Be Tough – Be Empathetic
My advice to young leaders? You have to be tough, ambitious, and have a good deal of self-confidence. You have to ask “why?” and not take things at face-value. Leadership is by definition elitist. You have to believe you should lead, that you possess attributes that others do not have. That is why it so important to develop that instinctive empathy early – to mitigate that inherent elitism.
In the eyes of Kwon Ping, do we have Leaders? Or Managers? Or Executives?
What do you think?
https://www.hcli.org/articles/reflections-leadership-ho-kwon-ping-banyan-tree
