Leadership vs. Management
"Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right
thing." – Bennis and Nanus
"Management is the efficiency of climbing the ladder and leadership is ensuring
that the ladder is against the right wall." – Peter Drucker
Managers have impersonal commitments to goals. Leaders "seek out opportunities for
change … to alter human, economic and political relationships." – Abraham
Zaleznik
Management is the process of "planning, budgeting, organizing and controlling some
activity through the use of (more or less) scientific techniques and formal
authority." – John Kotter
Leadership is "the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or
leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the
leader and his or her followers." – John Gardner
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Leadership – Other Definitions
"Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who
intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes." – Joseph Rost
"Great leaders inspire their followers to believe, to expend more effort, and to
accomplish great things that otherwise would not get done." – Clark & Clark
"Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and
purposes mobilize … institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so
as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of the followers." – James
MacGregor Burns
Transactional leadership: "When one person takes the
initiative in making contact with others for the purpose of an exchange of valued things .
. . [which] could be economic or political or psychological in nature."
Transformational Leadership: "When one or more persons engage
with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of
motivation and morality . . . and thus it has a transforming effect on both."
Link to: James MacGregor Burns Academy of
Leadership
Moral Leadership: Leadership based on character,
principle-centered leadership. It is leadership that appeals to a higher level of needs
and values . . . treat everyone with dignity and respect, honesty, integrity, fairness,
forgiveness, humility, service, and excellence.
Servant-Leadership: "It begins with the natural feeling
that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to
lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make
sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served." – Robert
Greenleaf
Link to: The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership
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Influence
Influence is a common theme in many leadership definitions, as well as the leadership
literature. It means to have an effect on others; to affect, impact, control, or persuade.
As described above, however, leading is more than just influence.
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Formal vs. Informal Leadership
Formal leadership is exercised by persons in "positions of leadership"
whereas informal leadership is exercised by persons not in such positions. Formal leaders
have access to legitimate authority, coercive power, and extrinsic rewards that informal
leaders generally do not. However, great leaders prefer to use the power and influence of
the informal leader: intrinsic rewards, expertise, and referent power. (See below.)
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Power vs. Leadership
Leadership is a process of guiding or shepherding by persuasion or example, whereas
power is authority, dominance, command, or control. Persons who "push" are using
power. Persons who "pull" are leading. Using a modified version of French and
Raven's five forms of power, we see that in fact all leaders use some form(s) of power.
However, "leading" is most closely associated with only half of these forms.
Legitimate Power: Formal authority (responsibility, policy and
procedure) given or attributed to that position.
Coercive Power: Control exercised through fear (threat) or
force to discipline, punish, terminate, or even inflict harm or take a life. May also
include forms of socio-cultural ostracism.
Reward Power--Extrinsic: Transactional reciprocity through
material resources such as pay, bonuses, and benefits.
Reward Power--Intrinsic: Influence through satisfying
higher order needs such as providing opportunities, challenges, professional or personal
growth, or recognition.
Expert Power: Influence attributed with valued expertise or
information held by an individual.
Referent Power: Influence by association, i.e., liking,
admiration, affinity, awe, or even emotional dependence; may be attributed as
charisma (see below).
For a time, this list seemed to me to be an accurate representation of power, both for
describing power-wielding and leading. However, I had this nagging feeling that something
was still missing when it came to describing the authentic leader. One day it struck me
that there are two additional forms of power used by the truly authentic leaders.
Thus, to this list, I have added moral power and spiritual power.
Moral power (or moral authority): The influence of example
derived from living and leading according to universal or shared values and beliefs of
right and wrong
Spiritual power (or spiritual synchronicity): The energy and
influence derived from a worldview of an ultimate transcendent (nonmaterial)
reality. This worldview generally includes a sense of purpose, meaning and
wholeness. It may include a sense of interconnectedness, self-transcendence,
and even absolute unitary being. It is a form of inner power, though resulting
values, beliefs and behaviors may influence others. These behaviors include
genuine personal humility and altruistic concern for others. In organizations,
it shows as a focus on others and the greater good over self-interest and even
profits or shareholder wealth. Ironically, there is increasing evidence that
their companies significantly out perform their industry or similar companies
under other forms of leadership. See also "Spirituality
in Business."
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Charisma
Charisma among
leaders is highly controversial. Some sources consider charisma to be a fundamental
component of leadership. Others argue that charisma is a quality only attributed to the
leader by followers. The level of association with the charismatic individual may range
from "liking" through "awe" or even "emotional dependence."
There is evidence that followers of charismatic leaders focus on the leader, whereas
followers of transforming leaders focus on the shared purpose or vision. While more
research is needed on this phenomenon, it may be that charismatic and transforming
leadership are not mutually exclusive. The transforming leader may also be charismatic . .
. or not. The charismatic leader may be transforming . . . or not.
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Change
Leading is often about change. The first challenge for
the leader is to articulate the need for change, sometimes even creating dissatisfaction
with the status quo in order to change perceptions of the need. Change leads to conflict
which is generally healthy, but needs to be moderated or it can tear an organization
apart. A key to effecting change is to understand that as a populous, we do not like being
told what to do. This is the primary source of resistance to change. Thus the
great leader will guide followers toward seeing the need for change. Lao-tzu would
say that great leaders gently pull followers along, rather than forcibly push
them along, even though there are times that call for the leader to make the tough
decisions. Use of authority is best limited to the exception rather than the rule. A
climate of trust, critical to great leadership, will indulge the occasional use of
authority.
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A Model for the Process of Authentic Leading
James MacGregor Burns’ Leadership (1978) transformed our thinking about
leading. Since his seminal work, a great deal has learned about the nature of leading. I
have organized my findings and thinking into a model for the process of leading. A
shared
vision of the future is supported by the four pillars of leading: (1) communicating
regularly with followers, (2) building a web of relationships with and among followers,
(3) creating a sense of community based on shared values and beliefs, and (4)
guiding
achievement of the vision through empowerment and other actions. These pillars rest on a
solid foundation of character, the source of moral authority. The inner
sanctum is spiritual synchronicity, leading by living a congruent life
grounded in a transcendent or higher purpose that provides
meaning
and
wholeness,
and is likely to value interconnectedness and
self-transcendence.
For a more detailed description of this model, click here.
For a more complete description of
authentic leading, see Dr. Pielstick's
Authentic
Leading: Where the Blue Sky Hits the Road.
Authentic leading
requires the integration of shared vision,
communication, relationships, community, guidance, character, and spiritual
synchronicity.
"Mahatma Gandhi exemplified the
challenge upon which this book is based, a challenge to do more--far more--than
we are expected to do. This book is written with the hope that we will all,
individually and collectively, hear this call, and commit to a higher moral
purpose for the common good of all people for all time. Such a commitment is
needed at all levels of individual and organizational life. It is as critical in
business as it is in religious, governmental and non-profit organizations. It
demands a passion to do more, to be an agent of change for all of humanity, not
just for one organization. There is room for each of us to commit, to really
make a difference, to leave our legacy." [From back cover]
ISBN 1-929149-13-1.
Read a review [click
here]
To order: Sorry sold out!
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Links to leadership documents by Dr. Pielstick
"Beyond Vision: The Transforming
Leader", unpublished paper.
The Design for a Leadership Academy for Community College Professionals
Based on Transformational Leadership. [Dissertation, 1996, includes a
meta-ethnographic analysis of the research and literature on transformational and related
leadership literature from 1978 (publication of Burns's Leadership) to 1996.]
"The Transforming Leader -- Why Leaders Can
Lead", presented to the 1998 International Conference for Community and
Technical College Chairs, Deans, & Other Organizational Leaders. Houston, TX, February
26, 1998.
"The Transforming Leader: A
Meta-Ethnographic Analysis", presented to the 1998 Annual Meeting of the
Leader/Scholar Association (now the International Leadership Association) -- Meeting of
the Minds between those who study leadership and those who practice it. Los
Angeles, CA, November 13, 1998.
"Teaching
Spiritual Synchronicity in a Business Leadership Class", presented to
the 2001 Annual Meeting of the International Leadership Association. Miami,
FL, November 1, 2001.
Links to other leadership sites
The International Leadership
Association
The James MacGregor Burns Leadership Academy
The Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership
The Center for Creative Leadership
Link to a favorite Gandhi site
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For additional information or comments, please contact Dean.Pielstick@nau.edu
