Are You A Leader Or Merely A Manager

“There is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership is of the spirit, management is of the mind. Managers are necessary, but leaders are essential. We must find managers who are not only skilled organisers, but inspired and inspiring leaders.”Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill"Slim"

You can buy someone’s physical presence, but you cannot buy loyalty, enthusiasm or devotion. These you must earn. Successful organisations have leaders who focus on the future rather than cling to the past.

Leaders bring out the best in people. They spend time developing people into leaders.

Here are the qualities of a leader:

• Leaders have a clear vision of what they are working towards. They don’t keep their vision a secret - they communicate it to their people.

• Leaders are consistent. They keep their principles and values at all times.

• Leaders can and will do what they expect of others. They are prepared to walk the talk.

• Leaders are not threatened by competence. They enjoy promoting people and are quick to give credit to those who have earned it.

• Leaders enjoy developing their people into leaders, not followers. They train people to take on more challenging tasks and responsibilities. They develop peoples confidence.

• Leaders don’t betray trust. They can treat confidential information professionally.

• Leaders are concerned about getting things done. They don’t get embroiled in political infighting, gossip and backstabbing. They encourage those around them to do likewise.

• Leaders confront issues as they arise. They do not procrastinate. If something needs fixing, they do it right away, even if it is uncomfortable. The longer things are left, the more difficult they become.

• Leaders let people know how they are doing. They reward and recognise performance that is above expectations and they help people identify ways of improving poor performance.

• Leaders are flexible. They welcome change. They do not stick to an old position simply because it is more comfortable.

• Leaders are adaptable. They see change as an opportunity rather than a threat.

• Leaders are human. They make mistakes. When they do so, they readily admit it.

• Leaders reflect on and learn from their mistakes. They see errors as a chance to improve their skills.

• Leaders enjoy challenge. They are prepared to take risks and encourage others to do likewise. If they fail, they treat the exercise as a learning experience.

• Leaders focus on the future, not the past. They anticipate trends and prepare for them. They develop a vision for their team and communicate it to them.

• Leaders are open to new ideas. They demonstrate their receptiveness by supporting change.

• Leaders treat staff as individuals. They give closer attention to those that need it and lots of space to those that deserve it.

• Leaders encourage and reward co-operation within and between teams.

Team Leadership:

• Leaders develop guidelines with their team. They constantly enlarge the guidelines as the team becomes willing to accept more responsibility.

• Leaders change their role according to the demands of the team. For example, they become more of a coach or facilitator.

• Leaders listen to their team members.

• Leaders involve people in finding new ways to achieve agreed-upon goals.

• Leaders create the opportunity for group participation and recognise that only team members can make the choice to participate.

Summary:

Characteristics of Management:

• Not Emotional
• Tells
• Talks
• Expects Less
• Trusts Difficult
• Calming 
• Knows the Answers
• Tells How
• Directs – Has Subordinates
• Sees Details
• Systems Centred
• How and Why
• Maintains Controls
• Stands Apart
• Goals/Plans

The Characteristics of Leadership:

•  Passionate Visionary
•  Asks
• Listens
• Encourages More
• Trusts Easy
• Enthusiastic
• Open To Suggestions
• Shares Why
• Points the Way
• Has Followers
• Sees Overall View
• People Centred
• What and Why
• Originates
• Inspires
• Seeks Company
• Identity/Values

Managers – Doing the Job Right

• Good Soldier
• Eyes on Bottom Line
• Aims for Security
• Structured
• Accepts the Status Quo

Leaders – Doing the Right Job:

• Own Person
• Eyes on Horizon
• Enjoys Change
• Flexible
• Challenges the Status Quo

In Summary: Without managers the visions of leaders remain dreams. Leaders need managers to convert visions into realities. For continuous success, organisations need both managers and leaders; however, as most seem to be over-managed and under-led, they need to find ways of having both at the same time. Perhaps the best way to handle this paradox is for managers to aim to be managers when viewed from above, leaders when viewed from below and to remember that the need for leadership grows as we move up the organisation. This is only one of the challenges that can make working life fun.

http://www.121mcv.co.uk/resources/business-development-knowledge/are-you-a-leader-or-merely-a-manager

Who Is Your Greatest Mentor and Why?

When you have the time or more importantly, make the time to sit and look back at your working life it can be a rewarding and enlightening experience.

We are very often living a working life on a rollercoaster of deadlines, day-to-day pressures, constant learning, antagonism, internal highs and lows, frustration and responsibility. Then when we come home at night there are the pressures of family and responsibility. In a perfect world the coming home at night balances the workday pressures to provide us with the fuel to get up and go again the next day.

Not all people have the luxury of a happy and supported work life

Not all people are blessed with a happy and supportive home life, not all people have the luxury of a happy and supported work life so what is it, that we as individuals can do to ground ourselves when one or more of the important life consuming aspects of daily living are not perfect?

About 10 years ago, I was lunching with a colleague in New York while on a business trip and during our conversation he said something that shocked me and caused me to wonder, why I did not see what he saw in me. His comment was, “You are amazing, you have had a meteoric rise to business success, you have done it on your own and yet you really don’t see what it is that you have achieved. Who mentored you to give you such confidence and wisdom?”

Well it is fair to say I was certainly shocked, it was completely unexpected because you see he was right, I did not see what he saw. I was so busy doing what I did, I never took the time to think about where I had come from, what I had achieved or where I was headed. We parted company the next day and both returned to our home states.

Value the life that has led you to where you are today

In the days that followed I could not stop thinking about what had been said to me. I was flattered of course, but strangely uneasy with his statement. Uneasy because, he was right. I had not stopped to think about my path or why I was where I was in my life either personally or professionally. I valued success but I did not at that time, value the life that had led me to that current time.

A few days later I decided to take some time to think in more depth about what he said and to try to discover a little more about me. In order to go back over time and look at my life I found the easiest thing to do was to write a professional and a personal resume. Two documents, I recalled my past in detail and listed all of the highs and lows that had moulded me professionally and personally over the years.

I started with the professional life and went back to my school days and year by year added everything I could think of. Every job, every role and its responsibilities, I then added all the things I did for the first time in each of my positions and defined what the successes were. I looked at what was not necessarily successful and what did I gain from the experience. I questioned myself, have I used the lesson learned in my previous roles or decision making since and has it turned it into a strength for me or do I continue to make the same mistakes.

I looked at who has influenced me in each of my roles and was that influence positive or negative. What did I learn from the positive and what did I learn from the negative influences in my life.

I repeated the analysis for my personal life which was much less complicated but worthwhile nonetheless.

So here is what I learned

WOW! – I have done so much, learned so much, achieved so much. I had never thought about my life in such detail before and I certainly had never valued my professional history or valued it to the depth that I should have. I learned who my greatest mentor was and who my most disappointing boss was and why I put them in these categories.

It was a powerful exercise and one that I now do every year. I just keep adding to my list of professional and personal accomplishments and am constantly surprised at how much I learn and continue to develop every year.

I learned who I am today and who I want to be moving forward, what are my aspirations and my boundaries. I learned that our future success is in our past, you just need to find it, value it and bring it with you.

So I ask you: Who Is Your Greatest Mentor and Why?