Tag Archives for leaders

LEADERS & The Difference Between Good Leaders and Great Ones #OrganixBook

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: This article from Harvard Business Review illustrates what I try to communicate to my students. And that is, that “great” leadership which revolves around forceful leading in times of danger or calamity is very different from “good” leadership which often is more collaborative and utilized in times of relative harmony. I outline the differences in the book ORGANIX. Read this article to understand more of the nuanced differences.

The Difference Between Good Leaders and Great Ones

by James R. Bailey, Harvard Business Review, 9/23/16.

…That anyone can develop as a leader is not in question. What I dispute is the stubborn resolve that great and good are points along the same stream. That just isn’t so. Great leadership and good leadership have distinctly different characteristics and paths. Leadership is not one-dimensional. It can be great and good, or one but not the other, or neither.

Uses of “great” usually begin with descriptions of being unusually intense or powerful, either “to great effect” or “a great effort.” In that sense, great is a force. True, great also means “excellent,” but that is not its primary meaning. As for “good,” we usually reference morality, virtue, and ethics — “a good person” or “a good decision.” Good can refer to the quality of something — contrasted against the commonly understood opposite, bad — but in this context good refers to the direction in which behavior is compelled.

Great leadership is powerful, dominating, often overwhelming. It can sweep people along through sheer animation. Great leadership excites, energizes, and stimulates. It’s a rousing call, shocking complacency and inertia into action. It’s one of the most potent pulls in human history, and as such accounts for much of humanity’s progress, as well as its suffering. While it ignites collective action and stirs passion, its direction depends largely on those that wield its power. Great has no inherent moral compass, and thus its unpredictable potency can just as easily be put toward pugilistic and peaceful purposes.

To speak of good leadership is to speak of protecting and advancing widely accepted principles through means to ends. It denotes doing the “right” thing. There may be legitimate differences in interpretation of what’s right and wrong, but long-standing ethics, mores, and customs of conduct that have allowed individuals and collectives to survive and thrive are remarkably similar across culture and time. Good heeds the best interests and welfare of others.

Good leadership is not as arresting as great leadership. When good rules the day, it’s not so noticeable, as things are transpiring as they should. Great is dramatic, whereas good is the blended background, a values-based screen upon which great deeds unfold. This accounts for why the force of great often overshadows the direction of good.

The tug between great and good leadership is one of perpetual and dynamic coexistence. There is great — a force that is often inexplicable, occasionally irrational, and, importantly, intermittently ungovernable. Then there is good — a direction that is north-star true, providing the point of values of mutual benefit. The former moves, the latter aspires. The figure below illustrates the relationship.

Read more at … https://hbr.org/2016/09/the-difference-between-good-leaders-and-great-ones

STO LEADERSHIP & Are You a Strategic, Tactical or Operational Leader?

Here is a short 15 minute video introduction to my meta-concept of leadership called, STO Leadership Styles in Ministry: Strategic, Tactical & Operational Leaders … And Why You Need All 3.

After watching the video you can get more info and examples by reading Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church (“Chapter Two: Why is Change So Difficult to Manage.” pp. 29-48). This book was Co-resource of the Year in Outreach Magazine.  PLUS, on p. 47 is a questionnaire to discover your personal mixture of strategic, tactical and operational leadership.  Though the publisher wants you to buy the whole book (and so do I 🙂 here is a downloadable copy of this chapter with the questionnaire.  It is not for public distribution, so if it is helpful please purchase the book and support research on church growth and health: BOOK ©Whitesel EXCERPT – CHANGE REACT Chpt.2 STO Leaders.

LEADERS and MANAGERS & What Is The Difference (Part 2) by John Kotter

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “One of the first exercises in my leadership course is to have students study the difference between leadership and management. As this article by John Kotter points out, both are required in a successful leader. Yet students seem to prefer studying leadership and overlook the critical ability to put leadership ideas into action by developing management skills too. Here in another seminal article on the importance of leadership and management, John Kotter not only talks about the difference but also how good leaders must develop both.”

Read more at … https://hbr.org/2001/12/what-leaders-really-do/ar/1

LEADERS and MANAGERS & What Is the Difference?

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “This seminal article explains the difference between leaders and managers … and why you need both. Based upon 80,000 interviews with managers and leaders by the Gallup organization, this research shows leadership deals with setting the vision, while management is helping people develop so they can work together and reach that vision. The church has a lot of leaders – but few managers, so that there’s a lot of visions – without clear plans to attain them. Below are several quotes that define the difference between leadership and management.”

LEADERS: “Great leaders discover what is universal and capitalize on it. Their job is to rally people towards a better future. Leaders can succeed in this only when they can cut through differences of race, sex, age, nationality and personality, and using stories and celebrated heroes, tap into those very few needs we all share.”

MANAGERS: “Managers will succeed only when they can identify and deploy the differences among people, challenging each employee to excel in his or her own way.”

You can be BOTH: “That doesn’t mean a leader can’t be a manager or vice a versa. But to excel at one or both you must be aware of the very different skills each role requires…”

Click on the thumbnails to begin reading…

Read more at … http://hbr.org/2005/03/what-great-managers-do/ar/1

STRATEGY & Vision / Mission by Peter Drucker

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “Peter Drucker in his book Non-profit Management emphasizes how strategy and vision must both be in place for effective ministry.

But, I have noticed that church leaders often wax poetic on mission/vision – yet spend little time conducting the basics of strategic planning such as a SWOT analysis.

This week I was joined by nationally-known pastor Nelson Searcy on my annual tour of England on the “Land and Leadership of Wesley” tour. I am always amazed how Nelson has such a good mix of vision (strategic leadership) and tactical leadership (a leadership ability to make specific fiscal assessments and to craft concrete goals. Did you know John Wesley was the same way?

It seems like churches are often full of dreams but with few concrete plans to get there. This is probably because most pastors are ‘strategic leaders.’ Now, there is nothing wrong if a lead pastor is a strategic leader (e.g. ‘visionary’ in orientation) … as long as that pastor partners with a ‘tactical’ leader to form an effective team.

For examples of ‘strategic, tactical and operational leaders’ (plus a short quiz to discover who in your team is which) see Preparing for Change Reaction (Whitesel, 2010).

I also wrote a helpful chapter on strategic management in The Church Leader’s MBA (Ohio Christian Univ. Press, 2009). There I explained how churches can easily conduct the basics of strategic planning: a SWOT analysis.

Here is the quote by Peter Drucker that sums up the importance of strategic leadership:”

Peter Drucker states, “Good intentions don’t move mountains; bulldozers do. In non-profit management, the mission and the plan – if that’s all there is – are the good intentions. Strategies are the bulldozers. They convert what you want to do into accomplishments… St. Augustine said one prays for miracles but works for results.” (Drucker, 1990).

STRATEGY & Three Factors of a Good Strategy by Peter Drucker

Peter Drucker in his book Non-profit Management points to the three elements of a good strategy:

“To work systematically on the productivity of an institution, one needs a strategy …. The first factor is always the people. It’s not a matter of working harder; we learned that long ago. It’s a matter of working smarter, and above all, of placing people where they can really produce. The second universal factor is money. How do we get a little more out of the money that we have? It’s always scarce. And the third factor is time.” (Drucker, 1990)

LEADERSHIP & Favorite 25 Leadership Quotes of Thom Rainer

by Thom Rainer, 10/9/13, retrieved from http://thomrainer.com/2013/10/09/top-25-leadership-quotes/ including:

2.    Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. —Peter Drucker

3.    The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. —Max DePree

10.    If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. —John Quincy Adams

16.    The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. —Theodore Roosevelt

17.    Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy

22.    Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf

And 19 more, read more at … http://thomrainer.com/2013/10/09/top-25-leadership-quotes/

INNOVATION & 3 Ways to Measure Bold Ideas

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “Deciding to implement a new idea based upon its financial bottom-line is shown to usually undercut innovation as well as long-term organizational health.”

3 Ways to Measure Success by Ilan Mochari, Inc. Magazine, 4/24/14

Read more at … http://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/measure-bold-ideas.html

ASSERTIVENESS & How to Be Assertive (Without Losing Yourself)

by Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review

“Managers need some degree of self-confidence to be effective. “The right amount of assertiveness, respect for others, and intelligence is what makes a great leader,” says Lauren Zander, co-founder and chairman of the Handel Group, an executive coaching firm in New York City, and author of “Designing Your Life,” a course taught through MIT. Yet, there needs to be a balance. “There’s a sweet spot for assertiveness. If you’re below the range, you’re not going to get your way. If you’re above it, you’re not getting along with others,” says Daniel Ames, a professor of management at Columbia Business School and author of “Pushing Up to a Point: Assertiveness and Effectiveness in Leadership and Interpersonal Dynamics.” The good news is, “Being shy is not a permanent condition. Assertiveness can be learned,” says Zander. The key is to understand the context, assess your behavior, and then make the appropriate adjustments.”

Read more at… http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/how-to-be-assertive-without-lo/

LEADERSHIP & Servanthood

Leading as a servant and how to stop doing the things you’re not good at

by Sandi Krakowwski, Entrepreneur Magazine, 2/4/14

“We live in a world where the chase for power is increasing. Someone is always getting thrown under the bus so another person can get ahead. The “top of the food chain” philosophy that has infected our workforce and leadership has thrived on the accumulation of power and practices to get ahead.

Yet when all is said and done, have we really gotten ahead by this change?

There is a better way. It’s called Servant Leadership, and it can be applied in workplaces and homes. It is an act of faith, best defined by coming alongside others, leading by example and helping the people around and under you. Using it allows you to go further in all areas of life, rather than pursuing positional leadership that dominates and dictates your employees…”

Read more at … http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231242

LEADERSHIP & Key Skills

Why Good Managers Are So Rare
by Randall Beck, Harvard Business Review

“Gallup has found that one of the most important decisions companies make is simply whom they name manager. Yet our analysis suggests that they usually get it wrong. In fact, Gallup finds that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.

Bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year, and having too many of them can bring down a company. The only defense against this massive problem is a good offense, because when companies get these decisions wrong, nothing fixes it. Businesses that get it right, however, and hire managers based on talent will thrive and gain a significant competitive advantage.”

Read more at… http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/why-good-managers-are-so-rare/