In surfing through old business columns (dated 2010), we came across a good commentary on effective leadership in today’s workplace. Dave Jones, then with Proximity Canada in Toronto, comments on the distinction between two types of people in the workplace – managers and leaders.
Jones says: “There are few true leaders in the world. It’s risky. It’s hard. It’s often times unappreciated.”
Here’s his distinction.
Managers:
- deal with what’s handed to them
- iterate on what’s been done
- chart a course in ink
- check boxes
- have “not my…” in their vocabulary i.e. department, job, budget, responsibility
- lean to the conservative
- maximize resources against goals
- measure at the end
Leaders:
- redefine their environment
- allergic to “this is how we’ve always done it”
- head in a direction, but not certain to reach destination
- colour outside the boxes
- strive to be innovative
- focus resources on goals; but saves some for the sandbox
- measure along the way; course-correcting on the fly
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