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Leadership in QuotesThoughts Regarding Leadership ,
950BC- present
Patrick E. Gorman
Dec 19th, 2013
Leadership in Quotes:
Thoughts Regarding Leadership
950 BC- present
Dec 2013
Patrick [email protected]; phone 425 622 7713
"The wicked leader people despise. The good leader people revere. Of the great leader, people say, 'We did it ourselves.’”
Lao Tzu (ca. 600 BC)
3
Themes
Here are some interesting quotes and ideas organized in a different way. A few may be new to you. It’s safe to assume that the persons quoted weren’t the first to think them.
40% of projects fail, mostly because we keep making the same mistakes. We might reduce this percentage by looking at things differently“Insanity- doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
results” Albert Einstein (ca. 1950)
• Framework- The “Big Picture”• Leadership vs. Management• A working definition• Trust, teaching, and other considerations
4
What’s a Corporation?
A group of people organized to make a profit by creating a thing or
providing a service– Who makes decisions? – What skills and knowledge do they need?
“Creating a better world requires teamwork, partnerships, and collaboration, as we need an entire army of companies to work together to build a better world within the next few decades. This means corporations must embrace the benefits of cooperating with one another.” Simon Mainwaring
5
Corporate Size
“Fighting with a large army is in no way different than fighting with a small one; it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.” – Sun Tzu, ca. 500 BC
Principles leading to success (or failure) remain the same regardless of corporate size
- Leadership remains the same
Management techniques change
- Procedures change; concepts don’t
6
Expectations
What does the organization say they do?What do they really do?
If people perceive a difference, what does that say about the organization and its leaders?
- How might that affect them?
People’s actions:
– Reflect the leaders they work forWho in turn define culture
– Reflect the organization they work forWhat does your organizations’ culture encourage?
8
Leadership vs. Management
Management is a SUBSET of leadership; one must manage to lead effectively, but not necessarily vice versa
Management counts things and provides direction- e.g., Project Management~ Scope, Schedule, Resources, Risk
– Good management provides direction and bounds, and is usually quantifiable
Leadership provides vision and motivation- essential, but difficult to measure
“Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.” Tacitus, ca. 90AD
“Most US corporations are overmanaged and under led” John Kotter
9
Leadership vs. Management
“Managers do things right and Leaders do the right thing.” Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, 1985
“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible” – Gen Colin Powell
“Although leadership and the exercise of power are distinguishable activities, they overlap and interweave in important ways. Consider a corporate chief executive officer who has the gift for inspiring and motivating people, who has vision, who lifts the spirits of employees with a resulting rise in productivity and quality of product, and a drop in turnover and absenteeism. That is leadership. But evidence emerges that the company is falling behind in the technology race. One day with the stroke of a pen the CEO increases the funds available to the research division. That is the exercise of power. The stroke of a pen could have been made by an executive with none of the qualities one associates with leadership.” John W. Gardner
10
Discussion
For the purposes of this discussion, “manager” and
“leader” connote role, not title
Postulate:
A good leader must be a good manager, but-
A good manager doesn’t have to be a good
leader
11
Problem Solving
“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” Colin Powell, General, US Army
Postulate: The leader has three kinds of problems: motivation, work-related and people.
This provides a definition of leadership:
12
Leadership Defined
VisionGet the Job Done
Take Care of Your People
•Why are we doing what we’re doing?
•Communicate it effectively!
13
Leadership Defined: Vision:Leaders show (by example) and tell: Why we
are doing what we’re doing
“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” Robert Jarvik
"The leader has to be practical and a realist (management?), yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist” (leadership?). Eric Hoffer-
“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 De Pree
14
Leadership Defined: Vision
Get the Job DoneTake Care of Your People
Classic Management- knowing what needs to be done and when to do it
– What are we doing? (Scope)– What are our constraints? (Schedule; Resources)– What can go wrong? (Risk)
“The only person who never makes mistakes is the person who never does anything”, Denis Waitley, motivational speaker
But lets minimize them.
15
Leadership Defined:VisionGet the Job Done
Take Care of Your People
Think Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for a rough modelof things to take care of:
-Physiological-Security-Relationship-Self “actualization”
17
Considerations
“Nothing is new under the Sun” Ecclesiastes, attributed to King Solomon, ca. 950BC
Problems can often be related to, and solved by, adapting a similar solution to a similar problem
"A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel" Proverbs, attributed to King Solomon
Listen to people around you- leaders, peers and subordinates Every person knows something that you don’t
18
Planning and Anticipation
Planning is a means to the end, not the end in itself. Deviate from the plan with good reason and consideration for constraints
“The general who wins a battle makes many calculations ere the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.“ - Sun Tzu, circa 500BC
19
Sense of ProportionIt’s important to know what’s important
Set prioritiesCommunicate them
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." Albert Einstein
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein
20
Success in Measurement
Consider carefully; you get what you measure
Think long term – then think how the short term affects it
Your expectations are often a “measurement” of success- ensure your
actions reflect what you say
21
Set Expectations and Limits
For yourself and your people. Set the example
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you
want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower,
US president
"To command is to serve, nothing more and
nothing less.“ Andre Malraux (1901-1976)
22
Communication
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said” Peter Drucker, management consultant
“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions” Harold Geneen, former CEO of ITT Industries
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential clearly, so they come to see it in themselves” Stephen Covey, author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”
23
Say “Yes”- With Qualifiers
“Yes, if” often works to turn confrontation into conversation
Save “No” for when you mean it without qualifiers- moral or ethical issues
It may take some thought, but tends to result in “win/win” situations
“Search for alternative interpretations to disagreements to make them agreeable without compromising your values”- Wallace Wilkins, consultant
24
Picking the Right People
Skill set
Work ethic
Trustworthy
Will fit into the team– Work style – Personality
25
Learn to LeadConsistency is essentialCare about your people and the jobCommunicate with everyoneCharisma is useful- not essentialUnderstand the job, then pick the right people. If they fail-
who picked ‘em? – If you want to lead effectively, it is your fault when things go
wrong, directly or indirectly- and your followers get the credit when things go right (accountability)
Practice, succeed- and learn from failure“Leaders learn by leading, and they learn best by leading in the face of
obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.” Warren Bennis, author and consultant
“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Peter Drucker, author and consultant
26
Teach to Lead
Train your replacement– As much can be learned from this as from doing the
work
"The ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the
point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and
ability.“ Fred A Manske, Jr, Senior VP, Federal Express
28
Understanding
Learn about the people you’re leading– Cultures– Professions/Expectations/Stereotypes– Individuals
Ask questions
Take time to Learn– Everyone knows something you don’t know- take
time to elicit some
29
Culture
Be observant and open; correct your behaviors accordingly
Know your people to take care of them
For example; some persons from some cultures like/enjoy public recognition; others are embarrassed
Understand your people to avoid distractions
Some are offended by language/actions that are “OK” elsewhere, for example, putting your feet up
30
Leadership Involves Risk…
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." -
Mario Andretti (1940-)
• This has nothing to do with leadership
directly, but consider taking the path less
trodden:"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before." - Mae West (1892-1980)
31
Courage
“Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must
be without one, be without the strategy." – Gen H. Norman
Schwartzkopf
32
Responsibility vs. Authority"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his
share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” John C. Maxwell
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” Mohandas Gandhi
"The wicked leader people despise. The good leader people revere. Of the great leader, people say, 'We did it ourselves.’” Lao Tzu
…Then the great leader gets fired for “doing nothing…”
Project Managers often have responsibility but little authority. How can we deal with this mismatch?
33
Trust
If your people don’t trust you, you can manage, but you cannot lead
“…To be a leader a man must have followers… To have followers, a man must have their confidence. The supreme quality for a leader is integrity… His teachings and actions must square with each other.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
34
Sense of Humor
“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” Dwight D Eisenhower
“When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take
command. Very often, that person is crazy.” ~Dave Barry
36
Originality
• The “conventional wisdom” often isn’t
– What people think is important, often isn’t. This is key to thinking outside the box, perceiving reality differently, and coming up with an innovative solution
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." Walt Disney
– The world is inherently ridiculous. Think of “civilization”. Think of sex. Think of how often kids are more grownup than we are. Think of our culture
"I've had a wonderful time, but this wasn't it." Groucho Marx
37
Discussion
When has a sense of humor, or
“thinking outside the box” provided
an unexpected solution?
38
Creating a New Thing- Project Management
Generate enough momentum to overcome
organizational inertia - and entropy
“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more
dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things..... Whenever
his enemies have occasion to attack the innovator they do so with the passion
of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly so that the innovator and
his party alike are vulnerable.” Niccolo Machiavelli
“Failure is not fatal. Success is not final. It's the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
39
Discussion
If you’re a project manager and not a great leader, how can you learn and deal with the present
project?
If you’re already good, how do you pass this on?
If you desire practice/ information, where do you go?
40
In Conclusion
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." - Frank Lloyd Wright
"Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them." - Samuel Palmer
Some Other Interesting References
“HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership”,
Harvard Business Review, 2011. Harvard Business Review press.
“Servant Leadership”,
Greenleaf, Robert K, 2001. Paulist press.
“Extraordinary Groups”,
Bellman, Geoff and Ryan, Kathleen, 2009. Jossey Bass.
“The Fifth Discipline”,
Senge, Peter M, 2006. Doubleday.
If you have questions or comments, please contact me: [email protected];
phone 425 622 7713