Developing your management and/or leadership skills

David's mother to her son: "I'm warning you, David.....one of these days,you are going to hurt someone with that sling-shot!"
Let's start today by listing those management and leadership skills you are aware of, and believe you possess.
List at least five skills in each category. What's yours "sling-shot"?

Management or leadership?

Once you define leadership (see the post "Three Key Leadership Skills," then you can contrast it to management. An organization needs both, of course: leaders to set the course and managers to keep it all togtether.

Here are a few key management skills:

Managers are middle people. Karl Marx's economic analysis noted that managers seem to function as parasites in organizations, since they don't produce anything tangible, as workers do. He predicted that the workers would figure out that they don't need managers and would do away with them.

This is true to a degree. In any organization, the people who make the product or provide the service are the heart of it all. Without them, the manager has no purpose. However, competent managers justify their jobs by helping everyone in the organization to do what needs to be done in an efficient, productive way.

The key management skill is effective communication. He or she is the vital link between the leaderships' vision and the daily living-out of the vision by the organization's people.

This communication can go wrong in a hundred different ways. Incompetent leaders may fail to tell management what the organization's vision is, and to work with management to find ways to fulfill the vision. Alienated people in the organization may not take management's messages seriously, thinking that management is out-of-touch with the daily ins and outs of the organization. Frightened managers may hesitate to communicate if they aren't sure about what's really important in the organization (you;ll find these managers hiding in the offices).

Management is a thankless role. If managers do well, no one notices what they do as everything seems to work effortlessly. If managers fall short, they take blame from above and below.

Key differences between managers and leaders:

1. Leaders see the big picture; managers see the details.

2. Leaders are action-oriented; managers are process-oriented.

3. Leaders "do the right thing;" managers "do the thing right."

Leaders are more visible than managers, usually, so they get more glory. But without managers, the leader would spend so much time keeping the boat afloat they he/she would burn out quickly. Competent management is the crucial link in a successfulorganization.

Three Key Leadership Skills

Our business, the International Leadership Institute, has been helping people develop and use leadership skills since 1985.

We've come up with three key leadership skills. If you have any interest in being an effective leader, thse skills need to become second nature to you:

1. Future orientation
2. Graciousness
3. Generosity and compassion

Being future-oriented is the first key skill for leaders. Competent leaders must articulate a vision for the organization, then find practical means of reminding everyone about the vision daily. Just words is not enough; leaders need to model and define both the means and the methods by which they expect the organization's members to live out the vision, every day.

Graciousness is the second key skill for leaders. They must act with grace (forgiveness), respect and courtesy (politeness) to everyone, not just customers or clients. Effective leaders are gracious to all of the people who work with them, from the most prestigious employee to the person who takes out the trash, so to speak. This graciousness needs to be so ingrained that it comes naturally, without effort, and is sincere. There's nothing more forced and phony than "fake" graciousness. Again, just words are not enough. The attitude of graciousness must be behind the words, or they will be useless.

Generosity and compassion are the third key skill-set for leaders. A generous person wants everyone to be fulfilled, not just him/herself. The opposite of generosity (selfishness) leads to greed and immoral deeds. A compassionate person will not inflict undue suffering on others. Compassionate leaders put the needs of others before their own comfort and pleasure.

These skills are crucial for leaders to contemplate, learn about, and practice. If you're fortunate, you may have someone in your life who models these skills. Not all leaders are CEOs of companies, or presidents of organizations, but everyone around them knows that they are competent leaders. These people make organizations flourish.

Tyrants, dictators, monomaniacs, thugs and criminals may think that they are leaders. But they're not--they are simply bullies. They can get people to do their bidding through fear or force, but they don't lead. They punish rather than inspire; they diminish people rather than giving them ways to improve their lives.

Leadership is creative, life-sustaining and vibrant. Anyone who tries to lead without these three skills is merely a killer.

What is new or different about work opportunities (careers, assignments, jobs or callings) in the next decade?

How can you influence those in power concerning your job without feeling you are at the mercy of some remote, distant "management" that controls all aspects of your job? How can you share your ideas, insights, attitudes and skills that influence your job with those who matter? Our next meeting will be devoted to answering the two questions above.