Leadership Defined

Leadership Defined

Written by Mitch McCrimmon, Ph.D.

Conventional Leadership Leaders take charge of groups. There is no sharp disctinction between leadership and management. They occupy positions of authority. Leadership is a formal role. They make strategic decisions. They are good at managing people. They have emotional intelligence. They sell the tickets for the journey AND take us to the destination. Leadership Reinvented Leadership = promoting new directions by example or advocating by a better way. Management = getting things done. All employees can promote new directions. Leadership can be shown bottom-up or sideways. Leadership does not manage people - that's management. Leaders don't make decisions. The ACT of leadership is pure informal influence. Leaders sell the tickets for the journey. Managers drive the bus to the destination. The Changing Meaning of Leadership Our definition of leadership needs to change for a knowledge driven world that is no longer rigidly hierarchical, stable or static but one that is fluid, fast changing and less formally structured. Leadership has always been based on power. For the conventional view, this means the power of personality to dominate a group. But in our knowledge driven world, business is a war of ideas where the power to innovate and promote new products is the new basis of leadership. This is in tune with Richard Florida's book, "The Rise of the Creative Class" which argues that more and more work requires creative thinking. This is the power on which leadership will be based in the future. But such leadership can only be occasional influence, because no one can monopolize good ideas. The idea that leadership means occupying the dominant position in a hierarchy is a dinosaur. Anyone with critical knowledge that could alter business direction can show leadership. This is thought leadership. It can be shown by front line employees who don't manage anyone. It can be bottom-up as well as top-down. It can even come from outside. It can be shown between organizations too as in market leadership. Only management is a formal role.

Leadership Reinvented for a New Age Leadership re-invented is an occasional ACT, like creativity, not a role or position. Those at the top sometimes lead, sometimes just manage. Leadership is based on youthful rebelliousness, the drive of young people to challenge the status quo and find a better way. Bottom-up or thought leadership is more like the actions of Martin Luther King Jr. than business leadership. His demonstrations had a leadership impact on policy makers in the U.S. government and, of course, they did not report to him. This shows that leadership is really just about taking a stand for what you believe and trying to convince people to think and act differently. Management reinvented takes its rightful place alongside leadership as an engaging, supportive, facilitative, empowering and developmental function. Managers are catalysts, coaches, enablers, facilitators, developers of people and decision makers, not controlling bureaucrats.