What Leaders Really Do

I have been tired this week. Likely marathon recovery and travel. I ran 10K today to get back into some working out after taking most of the week off work outs. It took me most of the weekend to catch up as seems to be the pattern I have fallen into. And another busy week coming up.

One HBR article I am inspired by is What Leaders Really Do by John P. Kotter. Summarizing the article:

"They don't make plans; they don't even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it.

Leadership is different from management, but not for the reasons most people think. Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having "charisma" or other exotic personality traits. It is not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it.

Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.

Most corporations today are over-managed and underled. They need to develop their capacity to exercise leadership. Successful corporations don't wait for leaders to come along. They actively seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to develop that potential. Indeed, with careful selection, nurturing and encouragement, dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organization."

Interesting and from what I can see - true. My addition to this comment might be that leaders tend to also be managers so double duty is often in order. And what I have seen in some larger organizations is that management is more highly valued so there is a push to make leaders into better managers often to the detrement of the organization since it is the leadership that is more desperately needed.