Management is about doing what can be seen and executing it well;
Leadership is about envisioning what can’t be seen that spontaneously enrolls people to make it happen.
- Ivan Rosenberg, CEO, Frontier Associates
When America was born it had before it the tremendous opportunity to utilize massive untapped resources, a desire to explore the unknown mindset, an eagerness to be educated and develop the necessary skills to be successful, and a chance to build a new infrastructure without being mired by the outdated ones supporting Europe and Asia.
For most of the past 400 years (dating back to 1620) America has made the most of that opportunity. An analogy is how most law firms or investment firms are similarly opportunistic and mostly transactional (find the client/deal, do the case/deal, next – and bigger and more profitable – case/deal). The problem is that America (and possibly law firms and investment firms) and its mindset, skillset, and infrastructure have become outdated like those of the rest of the world when America was born.
Truth be told seizing an opportunity can get you into the game and win early and expand, but only developing the vision that Rosenberg mentioned at the top can keep you growing.
To Obama’s credit, he has been able to be transformational in his mindset and values. However he is surrounded by transactional and often non-cooperative players. His vision of more jobs (to stem the panic and give fearful out-of-work people something purposeful to do instead of just spinning their wheels), be more energy efficient (America and the rest of the world have not been too kind to the Earth), have better health service (unhealthy people tend to withdraw and not participate) and improve education (we need to go from a “what will it get me” educational myopia to “learning is fun”) is one that can enroll Americans to make happen.
His biggest challenge will be in transforming the American mindset from “all about me” to “all about us” (still not global minded and us vs. them) to “all about we” (becoming communally proactive vs. reactive).*
In essence, how to stop looking for a competitive advantage and replace it with a Collaborative Advantage.
*The best guide that I know for doing this and something that should be on Obama's short list is Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fisher-Wright.
Visit Dr. Mark Goulston at www.markgoulston.com
SPECIAL TO FAST COMPANY COMMUNITY: December 11, 2-3:30 PM EST, 1-2:30 PM CST, 11-12:30 PM PST. Your chance to go from bright and smart to wise. Listen with your teams to "Moving from Managing to Leading" a live webinar where Mark Goulston will interview Warren Bennis and take your questions. Use this link to get a special Fast Company $50 discount off the regular fee of $349 when you register.
Related Stories: | Topics:Leadership, Management, Careers, Ethonomics, Work/Life, United States, Ivan Rosenberg, Mark Goulston, Warren Bennis, Fast Company Magazine |
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Recent Comments | 7 Total
December 11, 2008 at 10:25am by John Agno
Leading a community, country or business transition through a cultural change is a tough assignment. Getting the people side right can make all the difference. Cultural transitions are times of heightened emotion where perceptions, feelings and hunches trump logic.
Increasing problems posed by climate change, ecological disruptions, diminishing resources (like water and oil), population growth and poverty are rapidly reaching a point where dramatic worldwide changes in priorities are required to forestall global chaos.
More at: http://coachingtip.blogs.com/coaching_tip/2008/12/leading-cultural-chang...
December 13, 2008 at 7:36pm by Luis G. Jaramillo
Every executive in the government organizations who is responsible for basic resources (human talent, time and money) is a manager and must be a leader. He or she must have a thorough knowledge of management; if not, we have a serious problem.
Rational management of those resources requires a well-rounded manager who is a leader and has the ability to guarantee the performance and control of those resources in the fullest sense
Political organizations create basic and essential management systems. However, the efficiency and effectiveness of a genuine political organization in its most pristine sense is impossible to achieve without highly rational management.
I think it is necessary to have real managers-leaders. Leadership without management, leads to big mistakes and management without leadership, it makes no sense
MBS is the language!
Available in www.fivestarmanager.com
March 14, 2009 at 4:17pm by David Utts
Transformational leaders understand what they are up against (http://tinyurl.com/bmntun). They just don't care. Their focus is on their vision for what is possible and in Obama we also have a person who is likable and who has a powerful presence. Transformational leaders move towards vision in the face of present circumstances. He will encounter obstacles from the old guard yet something else is on his side... The Crisis we are in will grow deeper - not because of Obama but because of the bad habits we have formed. We are very likely entering or already in a "Fourth Turning" (http://tinyurl.com/c7rm2u) Succeeding through this time will require it become "all about we" - not me. Those who remain focused on themselves will become the outliers - not the "norm". Obama with his strength as a transformational leader has arrived at a time that most will realize we must trust his lead.
March 14, 2009 at 4:17pm by David Utts
Transformational leaders understand what they are up against (http://tinyurl.com/bmntun). They just don't care. Their focus is on their vision for what is possible and in Obama we also have a person who is likable and who has a powerful presence. Transformational leaders move towards vision in the face of present circumstances. He will encounter obstacles from the old guard yet something else is on his side... The Crisis we are in will grow deeper - not because of Obama but because of the bad habits we have formed. We are very likely entering or already in a "Fourth Turning" (http://tinyurl.com/c7rm2u) Succeeding through this time will require it become "all about we" - not me. Those who remain focused on themselves will become the outliers - not the "norm". Obama with his strength as a transformational leader has arrived at a time that most will realize we must trust his lead.
March 14, 2009 at 4:17pm by David Utts
Transformational leaders understand what they are up against (http://tinyurl.com/bmntun). They just don't care. Their focus is on their vision for what is possible and in Obama we also have a person who is likable and who has a powerful presence. Transformational leaders move towards vision in the face of present circumstances. He will encounter obstacles from the old guard yet something else is on his side... The Crisis we are in will grow deeper - not because of Obama but because of the bad habits we have formed. We are very likely entering or already in a "Fourth Turning" (http://tinyurl.com/c7rm2u) Succeeding through this time will require it become "all about we" - not me. Those who remain focused on themselves will become the outliers - not the "norm". Obama with his strength as a transformational leader has arrived at a time that most will realize we must trust his lead.
March 14, 2009 at 4:18pm by David Utts
Transformational leaders understand what they are up against (http://tinyurl.com/bmntun). They just don't care. Their focus is on their vision for what is possible and in Obama we also have a person who is likable and who has a powerful presence. Transformational leaders move towards vision in the face of present circumstances. He will encounter obstacles from the old guard yet something else is on his side... The Crisis we are in will grow deeper - not because of Obama but because of the bad habits we have formed. We are very likely entering or already in a "Fourth Turning" (http://tinyurl.com/c7rm2u) Succeeding through this time will require it become "all about we" - not me. Those who remain focused on themselves will become the outliers - not the "norm". Obama with his strength as a transformational leader has arrived at a time that most will realize we must trust his lead.
March 14, 2009 at 4:18pm by David Utts
Transformational leaders understand what they are up against (http://tinyurl.com/bmntun). They just don't care. Their focus is on their vision for what is possible and in Obama we also have a person who is likable and who has a powerful presence. Transformational leaders move towards vision in the face of present circumstances. He will encounter obstacles from the old guard yet something else is on his side... The Crisis we are in will grow deeper - not because of Obama but because of the bad habits we have formed. We are very likely entering or already in a "Fourth Turning" (http://tinyurl.com/c7rm2u) Succeeding through this time will require it become "all about we" - not me. Those who remain focused on themselves will become the outliers - not the "norm". Obama with his strength as a transformational leader has arrived at a time that most will realize we must trust his lead.