The Leadersdirect.com website offers a comprehensive treatment of the topic of
leadership. The website offers critical analysis of leadership trends and
theory, and examines different kinds of leadership. The important question of
leadership versus management is addressed extensively (see a sample passage
below). The site includes assessment tools to help visitors identify and define
their own leadership tendencies. In addition, leadership myths are deconstructed
and practical concepts are presented that leaders can implement in their own
lives. The site is free of charge, and further fee-based resources and links to
other resources are available. The author of the website is Mitch McCrimmon,
PhD.
Mitch McCrimmon shares some insights below:
I think there is a lot of confusion around about the nature of leadership.
New ideas are needed to stimulate critical thinking about what it means to lead.
But the main practical benefit is that senior executives are overloaded with
needing to be so much to so many people. To be effective, they need to be
strategic and for me that means recognizing when they are
leading and when they are managing. It also means cultivating leadership in
others throughout the organization to share the load.
Mitch suggests leaders begin a visit to his website at one of
the following links:
»
http://www.leadersdirect.com/srgservices.html At this link,
Mitch has uploaded a number of pdf files that contain his most recent thinking
on leadership. Of particular interest are his critiques of Kouzes & Posner and
the article entitled ''Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership Theory.''
The following is a sample passage from
the leadersdirect.com website (
It makes sense, therefore, to align the managerial
function with executing today's business and leadership with generating new
directions.
Clearly, management is a set of responsibilities
because you have to be organized and systematic to deliver agreed outcomes
and other people expect this of you.
Conversely, leadership is an episodic act like
creativity that some people will exhibit some times and not other times - it
is not a position of responsibility.
Getting clear about this distinction is important
for strategic reasons - it helps us to focus our energies where we can gain
the greatest potential payback. Executives who think they are leading when
they are only managing are blocking the leadership of others and hence
potentially limiting the innovation their organizations need to survive.
They also run the risk of creating excessive dependency on themselves among
others.
When leadership and management are clearly
differentiated, you must identify areas for change and have the courage to
champion them to show leadership. No longer can you call yourself a leader
simply because you are a good manager.
At the same time, effective, profitable execution
is just as important for business success as generating the future. It is
time to raise the profile of managers and stop the bandwagon which is
compelling everyone to call themselves leaders, as if managers are somehow
lower class citizens or nonfunctional elements.
Hence it is vital to differentiate between
leadership and management - one serves the function of finding a new
direction, the other the function of getting us there efficiently.
While one person can, in principle, perform both
functions, only one person would normally be the manager of a group.
Conversely, leadership can be shown by all and it
can shift from one person to another rapidly in any given context.
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