The Management Trap- 5 Signs to Watch For
June 24th, 2010
In our leadership development training we concentrate on the 3 Dynamics of Leadership model: Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading the Organization. Leading Self is about upholding personal standards, self discipline and purpose. It defines WHO you are as a leader.
Leading Others defines the muddy relationship between management and leadership, building a team, managing the mission and achieving results.
Leading the Organization focuses on using context to maintain the course towards the organization’s vision, and upholding the vision during good times and bad.
Leading Others is the second step in Leadership Development and is a major key for all companies and teams. The relationship between management and leadership are important to separate, but at times difficult, because separation can be the difference between success and stagnant result.
When we talk with CEO’s, Executives, and Board of Directors we define the differences between leadership and management. Why? Because both factors are essential for the growth and stability of the organization. Poor management and great leadership will only get so far, and vice-versa. Here are the 5 key signs of The Management Trap:
- The team is unaware of the vision, mission or purpose
- “The captain doesn’t walk the ship”
- Too much focus on the process, not the people
- Unmotivated staff
- Staff’s values are not aligned with the organization
Don’t fall into the management trap. Pay attention to both management and leadership to maximize results.
Our leadership workshops are designed to give professionals and executives the opportunity to learn how to become great leaders. Our society needs effective and powerful leaders and our training will develop you to become the Leader You Have Always Wanted To Be!
What is the difference between Leadership and Management?
May 24th, 2010
In our Blog we talk a lot about performance based management and how efficiency and effectiveness can be improved with solid management. We also talk about leadership and how to influence others to lead them to achieve the goals of the business. But we have not talked about what the difference is between leadership and management.
Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.
Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, leading, or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.
As we can see in the definition, leading is a component of management. There are different forms of leadership and John C. Maxwell is correct in saying that “there is more than one single quality that makes a great leader!”
Can you be a great leader and poor manager or vice-versa? You can! Being the manager of a business is much different than being the leader of that business. Management has more to do with running systems and orchestrating people in a way that produces results. Good managers are usually well organized and have their systems in place for working with staff.
A great leader may be terrible at managing people but knows his weaknesses and fills those gaps with others strengths. Leaders can have a personality that is like a magnet or they may not be very well liked! What they have in common is that their Context and Purpose are higher than anyone else and are stead-fast with holding those in good times and in bad. Managers also have subordinates and leaders have followers and there is a significant difference between those two traits.
There are many, many books written about both management and leadership and both do have characteristics in common. Who would you want leading your favorite sports team (Boston Celtics…small plug), …a Great Manager or Great Leader?
And Why?
Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford and others…are you guys Zombies?
March 24th, 2010
Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, and all you car manufacturing companies out there, have you lost all your creativity and personality? Driving down the street we realized that the majority of cars on the road all look the same. There are only a few cars that have a personality in this world but the rest you manufacture all look the same as every other manufacturer. And they are priced the same too! Do you all have secret spies in each others companies and are returning the competitions design ideas? If that is the case you may want to reconsider that strategy.
Yes your company maybe developing a competitive position of being different, but all the cars look the same and are priced the same, then your cars are not different. You pay super creative people millions of dollars to come up with ideas for cars, trucks and SUV’s. Fire them and hire a few first graders!
And colors! Grey, Silver, White, Black, and Red have become the only colors on the street. Are you only making 5 colors too? This marketing has made you all into Zombies! Wake up and be bold! I am tired of trying to find my car in a parking lot of other vehicles.
Test: Drive down the highway and look at the back’s of all the vehicles and start clumping them into price brackets. See if you find that all the cars that would be priced the same…look the same!
Safe Driving!
You want to stand out in a crowd…Get Naked
February 24th, 2010
Ever wonder how great marketing ideas break through all the chaos that is going on around us? Think of watching TV or driving to the mall; we are hit with thousands of marketing and advertising images, messages, colors, tactics, etc. It is no wonder we live in a society full of people who can’t pay attention, there is just so much crap going on around us.
So out of all the signs, commercials, bright lights and 20% OFF Discounts, how do we as business owners and marketers BREAK THROUGH THE CRAP?
It is very difficult. You have to either be super creative with an idea that no one has ever done or thought of…or take so much risk that you walk the fine line between jail/fines/unethical and borderline acceptable. Regardless the idea needs to stand out in a crowd of advertising crap just like in Times Square with a Naked Cowboy playing a guitar.
So with your marketing be bold, crazy, different, risky, inappropriate, and sometimes stupid. Risk vs Reward!