(My apologies for entering two messages today about this subject. I also
apologize for sounding rather grumpy in the following e-mail.)
Discussions about leading vs. managing seem to occur regularly in HRNET,
TRDEV, ODNET, MD-ED-DV, etc. It also seems lately that managing is
portrayed as tedious and uncreative, while leading, on the hand, is
portrayed as grand, lofty, etc. Simiarly, definitions of leading tend to
be highly colorful and extensive, while defnitions of managing tend to
be short and trite. The nature of these portrayals concerns me.
My doctoral studies included extensive review of a great deal of
literature about leadership, including leading vs. managing, etc.
Authors typically suggest various new visions and character traits that
leaders should have in order to face the new millennium. Too often,
these authors seem to ignore altogether any advice about managing, ie.,
how these lofty new visions and traits can actually be implemented in
the day-to-day realities of managing an organization. (An excellent book
that clearly explains this issue is "Beyond the Hype" by Eccles and
Nohria.)
I wonder if these authors ignore the activity of managing because they
take it for granted that implementing new visions and traits just isn't
all that difficult? -- or does the activity of managing (as it's too
often perceived) seem just too boring to have to even address?
An organizational leader with no skills in managing can be utterly
disastrous to an organization (for example, see Founder's Syndrome at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/misc/founders.htm)
This issue is compounded when, too often, authors of literature about
leadership portray confusing and contradictory notions of the term
leadership. I wrote an article to try help readers understand and get
the most out of literature about leadership. I hope it helps this
discussion.
The article is at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/ldrship/ldng_lit.htm and
includes sections:
- Potential for Confusion Among Readers of Leadership Literature
- "Leading": A Basic Definition as a Starting Point
- Where the Confusion Often Starts: Traits Versus Roles
- Writers Have Varying Views on "Leading" and "Managing"
- Writers Have Varying Views on Universal Versus Relative Perspectives
of Leadership
- Writers Might Interchange Terms "Managing" and "Management" in Same
Article
- Writers Might Vary Modes of Time in Same Article
- Writers Might Mix Reference to Traits and Roles in Same Article
- Writers Sometimes Vary Scope of the Term "Leader" in Same Article
- Is Sometimes Difficult to Glean Clear Message About Good Leadership
- Is Sometimes Difficult to Glean Consistent Message About Good
Leadership
- Suggestions to Completely Understand Literature About Leadership
(There is also a basic overview of leadership at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/ldrship/ldrship.htm )
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- FREE MANAGEMENT LIBRARY at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/topics.htm
- Authenticity Consulting for coaching and management development;
- - - Call 612-536-9984
- Provide peer-coaching to clients (see
http://www.leaderscircles.org )
- Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Minneapolis, MN; email:
mcnam007@tc.umn.edu
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