os, 29-Sep-09

Management stuff to read

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 os, 29-Sep-09

Content
Management stuff to read ............................................................................................................................................ 1
„The Essential Malik“ (German) ................................................................................................................................ 3
What effective General Managers really do! .............................................................................................................. 5
The CEO's Secret Handbook… ................................................................................................................................ 6
Dale Carnegie: „How to Win Friends and Influence People” ......................................................................................10
Seven surprises for new CEOs ................................................................................................................................11
The ways chief executive officers lead .....................................................................................................................12
What makes an effective executive? ........................................................................................................................13
What makes a leader?.............................................................................................................................................15
The Manager’s job: Folklore and fact ......................................................................................................................16
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?.......................................................................................................................19

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„The Essential Malik“ (German)
Fredmund Malik: Führen, Leisten, Leben. Wirksames Management für eine neue Zeit
Richtiges Management ist global, es ist weltweit überall
gleich. Alle gut funktionierenden Organisationen werden
nach denselben Prinzipien gemanagt. Management
bedeutet Aktion, es heißt Tun, es heißt Vollbringen.
Wissen für sich genommen hat wenig Bedeutung,
solange es nicht genutzt wird, um Resultate zu
produzieren.
Kybernetik und richtiges Management sind Wissenschaft
und Praxis des erfolgreichen Funktionierens
hochkomplexer Systeme. Das Grundprinzip für richtiges
und gutes, also kybernetisches Management heißt:
Organisiere ein komplexes System so, dass es sich
weitgehend selbst organisieren, selbst regulieren und
evolvieren kann.
Die einzige Gemeinsamkeit, die man bei wirksamen
Menschen finden kann, sind ein paar Elemente ihre
Arbeitsweise:
...Regeln, von denen sie sich... bewusst oder unbewusst
leiten lassen...
...Aufgaben, die sie mit bestimmter Sorgfalt und
Gründlichkeit erfüllen....
...Werkzeuge, die sie kompetent, manchmal virtuos,
einzusetzen verstehen...
Gib Menschen die Möglichkeit, eine Leistung zu
erbringen, und viele – nicht alle – werden ein
bemerkenswertes Maß an Zufriedenheit erlangen.
Management handelt von Menschen in Organisationen
und umgekehrt von Organisationen mit Menschen. Was
immer den Mensch tut, er tut es nicht als Individuum,
sondern als Benutzer einer Organisation als deren
Kunde oder als deren Mitarbeiter. Management ist eine
Folge der Entstehung von Organisationen.
Management ist ein Beruf des Resultate-Erzielens oder
Resultate-Erwirkens.
· Es kommt darauf an, einen Beitrag zum Ganzen
zu leisten... den Mitarbeitern die Ganzheit vor
Augen zu führen...
· Es kommt darauf an, sich auf Weniges, dafür
Wesentliches zu konzentrieren... Konzentration
ist der Schlüssel zum Erfolg... Geistige Arbeit
braucht für ihre Wirksamkeit große
Zeiteinheiten...ungestörten Arbeitens... „Wie viel
ungestörte Zeit brauche ich mindestens, um diese
Arbeit fertig zu stellen?“
· Es kommt darauf an, bereits vorhandene Stärken
zu nutzen... die Menschen dort einzusetzen, wo
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sie bereits etwas können... „Was fällt dir leicht?“
Wer Ergebnisse erzielen will, muss Stärken
nutzen.... Schwächen bedeutungslos, irrelevant
machen.
· Es kommt auf gegenseitiges Vertrauen an... ein
Minimum an elementaren Manieren...
charakterliche Integrität... Man muss meinen was
man sagt – und so handeln... Misstrauen ist eine
der gefährlichsten Krebserkrankungen einer
Organisation...
· Es kommt darauf an, positiv oder konstruktiv zu
denken... „Was für eine Chance liegt selbst in
diesem Problem?“... Dinge verändern wollen... „Tu,
was du kannst, mit dem was du hast und dort wo
du bist... Mach das beste aus dem was da ist...“
· Es kommt darauf an, dafür zu sorgen, dass Ziele
überhaupt da sind... wenige Ziele, dafür aber
große – solche, die ins Gewicht fallen, die etwas
bedeuten, wenn sie erreicht werden... Das Ziel soll
die Quelle von Autorität, Direktion und Kontrolle
sein, und nicht der Vorgesetzte... Etwas nicht mehr
zu tun ist genau so ein Ziel, wie etwas zusätzlich
zu tun... Ziele, wo immer möglich, quantifizieren...
Ressourcen angeben...
· Es kommt darauf an, zu organisieren... für sich
und ihre unmittelbare persönliche Aufgabe und für
ihre Verantwortungsbereiche... wofür uns der
Kunde bezahlt... wofür wir unsere Mitarbeiter
bezahlen... wofür das Top-Management bezahlt
wird...
· Es kommt darauf an, zu entscheiden... wenige
Entscheidungen, aber diese mit Bedacht und
wohlüberlegt... „Worum geht es hier wirklich?“...
„Gibt es noch mehr Alternativen?“... Wirklich
tragfähiger Konsens...entsteht...nur aus
ausgetragenem Dissens... und zwar ersten offen,
zweitens offen und drittens offen... Man muss jede
Problemdefinition immer und immer wieder gegen
alle verfügbaren Fakten testen... Wenn die zu
treffenden Entscheidung nicht einmal das
definierte Minimum erfüllt, dann treffen wir sie
lieber gar nicht... „Beim Eintreten welcher
Umstände wollen wir akzeptieren, dass wir uns
getäuscht haben?“ Eine Entscheidung zu treffen
mag schwierig sein, sie zu realisieren ist aber
zehnmal so schwierig... kritische Maßnahmen sind
festzulegen... eindeutige Verantwortlichkeiten sind
festzulegen... auch die kritischen Termine gehören
zur Entscheidung... „Was, wer bis wann?“...
· Es kommt darauf an, zu kontrollieren...
Grundlage von Kontrolle muss Vertrauen sein...

Vertrauen über jene Grenze hinaus, sie einem
gefühlsmäßig leicht fällt... man muss sicherstellen,
dass die Leute wissen, dass man dahinter
kommen wird...wenn das Vertrauen missbraucht
wird...und dass das schwerwiegende und nicht
verhandelbare Folgen hat... Man muss sich auf die
kleinstmögliche Zahl an Kontrollgrößen
beschränken... Wo immer man messen kann, soll
man messen... Wo man nicht messen kann, muss
beurteilt werden – und dafür eben braucht es
Manager, solche mit Erfahrung und solche, die ihre
Aufgaben gewissenhaft und sorgfältig erfüllen...
· Es kommt darauf an, Menschen zu entwickeln
und zu fördern... individuell. Menschen entwickeln
sich an ihren Aufgaben... bereit sein vorhandene
Stärken weiterzuentwickeln... selbst ein Vorbild
sein... Erbrachte Leistung...und Ergebnisse...ist
das Einzige, was wirklich real und konkret ist... das
Einzige, was zählen darf.
· Es kommt darauf an, Sitzungen produktiv zu
machen... die Vermehrung von Sitzungen zu
unterbinden...
· Es kommt darauf an, empfängerorientierte
Berichte zu verfassen. Klarheit, Prägnanz und
Genauigkeit der Sprache sind unabdingbar...
· Es kommt darauf an, den Job – die Stelle – zu
organisieren und gestallten... die wirksame
Steuerung des Einsatzes der Menschen...
· Es kommt darauf an, die persönliche
Arbeitsmethodik zu kennen... sie ist der Kern von
Selbstmanagement... Systematisches und
methodisches Arbeiten ist der Schlüssel für die
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Nutzung von Talenten... Arbeitsmethodik ist etwas
sehr individuelles... „don’t work harder, work
smarter“... „do less and in order to achieve more“...
„Was sollte ich in Zukunft nicht mehr tun ... Was
muss ich selbst erledigen ... Was muss oder will
ich erledigen lassen ... Was muss sofort erledig
werden ... Was hat oder braucht Zeit...?“ Routine
ist wichtig für Produktivität und für Funktionalität.
...Das wichtige Instrument...die Checkliste.
· Es kommt aufs Budget an... das beste Instrument
für den produktiven Einsatz von
Schlüsselressourcen, insbesondere Menschen...
wichtige Grundlage für wirksame und gute
Kommunikation...
· Es kommt darauf an, Leistungen zu beurteilen...
„Was braucht man auf dieser ganz speziellen,
konkreten Position in diesem konkreten
Unternehmen und in dieser konkreten Situation?“
...herausfinden, wer in der Organisation welche
besondern Stärken hat.
· Es kommt auf eine systematische Müllabfuhr an.
„Trenne dich von Abfall und unnötigen Ballast!“
„Was von dem, was wir heute tun, würden wir nicht
mehr neu beginnen, wenn wir es nicht schon
täten?“ „Stop doing the wrong things!“ „Warum tun
wir etwas überhaupt?“
Freisetzung von Leistungsreserven heißt nicht mehr,
sondern wirksamer arbeiten, heißt, sich selbst und
andere besser und vor allem richtig zu managen. Man
nimmt sich etwas vor oder es stellt sich einem eine
Aufgabe – und dann löst man sie, weil man es kann.

What effective General Managers really do!
By John P. Kotter (HBR Classic)
…they chat about hobbies, hold spur-of-the
moment meetings, and seek out people far
from their chain of command… all to
combat the uncertainty and resistance
inherent in their work.
…this behaviour is hard to reconcile, on the
surface at least, with traditional notions of
what top managers do… or should do…
… effective general managers rely on agenda
settings and network building.
…excellent performers ask questions,
encourage, cajole, praise, reward,
demand, manipulate, and generally
motivate other with great skill in face-to-
face situations.
Patterns:
GMs…
· spend most of their time with other (pattern 1)…
· with many others besides a boss and direct
subordinates (pattern 2)…
· the breadth of topics covered in daily
conversations will be very wide (pattern 3)…
· ask a lot of questions (pattern 4)…
· create largely unwritten agendas… major agenda
settings, decisions are often invisible, they are
made in the GMs mind (pattern 5)…
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· humor and non-work discussions can be used as
effective tools for building relationships and
maintaining them under stressful conditions
(pattern 6)…
· spend time on issues that seem unimportant to
them (pattern 7)…
· implement their agendas by using a wide variety of
direct and indirect influence methods… find them
rarely ordering others (pattern 8)…
· but spending a lot of time trying to influence
people (pattern 9)…
· do not plan their day in much detail but instead
react (pattern 10)… conversations are short and
disjointed (pattern 11).
On the surface at least, such behaviour seems
particularly un-managerial. Yet these patterns are
possibly the most important efficient of all.
A good planning system should help the general manager
create an intelligent agenda and a strong network. It
should encourage the GM to think strategically, to
consider both the long and the short term and, regardless
of the time frame, to take into account financial, product,
market, and organizational issues.
Note: keep in mind that this article is from 1999 and
original appeared for the first time in 1982!!!!!!

The CEO's Secret Handbook…
"It started decades ago as flashes of insight scribbled on loose scraps of paper. Then it morphed into a PowerPoint
presentation that distilled years of business wisdom into a handful of easy-to-remember aphorisms. In 2004 it became a
76-page spiral-bound booklet clad in a plain gray cover…"
The rules are a compilation of writing down advice and thoughts over years… the rules are not original… about half of
Swanson's rules can be found word for word or nearly so in the 1944 book "The Unwritten Laws of Engineering" by W.J.
(William Julian) King, a one-time General Electric engineer who retired as a UCLA engineering professor in 1969 and
died in 1983. Swanson became Raytheon CEO in 2003.
Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management (compendium)
1. Learn to say "I don't know." If used when
appropriate, it will be used often.
If you are asked to contribute and don't know what to say
-- or don't have the answer - then simply say "I don't
know". It is my belief that if you behave in this way, you
will be respected for your honesty and candor. You are
not expected to know the answer to everything...
2. It is easier to get into something, than to get out
of it.
One should not be timid about committing, but one should
commit only when one has a clear sense of goals and
means. Invariably, it is more complicated and potentially
more costly to undo an action already under way that to
change a decision before it is acted upon...
3. If you are not criticized, you may not be doing
much.
No one enjoys criticism - either having to justify one's
decision or, on occasion, acknowledge error. But there is
also a risk in avoiding decisions. Small problems now can
fester and grow into big problems later. Opportunities
today can disappear tomorrow. Remember: problems are
not like whine and cheese; they do not get better with
age...
By all means, don't be rash, but do make decisions.
Calculated risks may be appropriate. However, be
thoughtful: do not make the same mistake twice...
4. Look for what is missing. Many know how to
improve what's there; few can see what isn't
there.
Always think about what's missing; It's amazing what
you'll find...
5. Presentation Rule: when something appears on
a slide presentation, assume the world already
knows about it and deal with it accordingly.
Don't think that what shows up in a presentation is
private. In fact, assume it will be published in the New
York Times, the Los Angeles Times or The Washington
Post. And always maintain an atmosphere of total
integrity...
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6. Work for a boss to whom you can tell it like it is.
Remember, you can't pick your family, but you
can pick your boss.
The point here is the in the workplace, unlike in your
family, you have a choice. You have a choice, more than
you may realize. Be proactive...
7. Constantly review developments to make sure
that the actual benefits are what they are
supposed to be. Avoid Newton's Law.
Follow-through is just as important as good decision-
making in the first place. When deciding on a course of
action, set measurable objectives than can be monitored
over time to make sure the decision is yielding the
intended benefits. By "avoid Newton's Law," I mean that
"for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
Monitor the progress of the actions you set in motion to
make sure these effects are not counter-productive, and if
they are, that they are addressed early. It is essential that
the manager use the disciplines to gain insight into his or
her program and its progress, and not simply as a way to
"check the box"...
8. However menial and trivial your early
assignments may appears, give them your
best efforts.
It is important to set high standards for your career and to
be demanding of yourself -- to want to perform
challenging tasks well. However, you are more likely to be
given the opportunity to take on complicated, difficult
assignments if you first demonstrate that you are willing
and able to perform simpler tasks well.
Everything you do, no matter how menial or trivial it may
seem, has your name associated with it. For that reason
alone it is worth doing well...
9. Persistence or tenacity is the disposition to
persevere in spite of difficulties,
discouragement, or indifference. Don't be
knows as a good starter but a poor finisher!
There is often a wonderful excitement when starting
something new. It is important to maintain that passion
throughout the course of an assignment, especially when
difficulties arise or the project encounters negative
thinking of those who lack the commitment to persevere.

Don't say you'll "never" be able to overcome the obstacles
-- unless you have truly analyzed each obstacle and
demonstrated in a fact-base way that they are truly
insurmountable...
10. In doing your project, don't wait for others; go
after them and make sure it gets done.
Don't be passive, don't just react, and don't assume.
Decide and act. Make sure everybody is one the same
page and moving out with you. Ask for help if you need it.
Understand what it will take to keep the project moving.
Follow-up is essential and will help ensure success of the
project. When done, be sure to share the credit...
11. Confirm the instructions you give others, and
their commitments in writing. Don't assume it
will get done.
The point here is that we often believe we have
communicated clearly when we have only transmitted
clearly. It is just as important to make sure that the
message has been properly received and that you and
your team agree on what everybody is committing to.
Confirming instructions and commitments in writing helps
to give structure to the communication process and to
ensure that everybody knows what needs to be done, and
who will do it. Keep the confirmation of instructions and
commitments clear and crisp so as not to bureaucratize
the process...
12. Don't be timid: speak up, express yourself and
promote your ideas.
If you evaluate yourself from the perspective of your
manager, you will see that you are valued most for your
contributions. It is not bragging to express yourself and
your ideas vigorously - so long as you are prepared to
support your ideas with logic and facts...
13. Practice shows that those who speak the most
knowingly and confidently often end up with
the assignment to get the job done.
If you speak up when you are knowledgeable on a
particular subject, you will inspire the confidence of your
management and you will get assignments that will allow
you to demonstrate your worth. However, if you speak up
when you are not knowledgeable, you may well sign on
for an assignment you can't handle...
14. Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written
reports.
It takes longer to write cleanly and crisply. It shows
respect for the time of others when you do.
As you grow in position and assume roles of increasing
responsibility and complexity, you truly appreciate those
who communicate with brevity and clarity. Their emails,
notes and reports will get read! Conversely, and sadly,
good ideas in hard-to-open packages wrapped with
complicated bows may be overlooked...
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15. Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your
statements.
You should be passionate and inspiring, but what you say
must be true. People are counting on your words for
information and may act on what you tell them. When you
say something, you want people to be able to "take it to
the bank".
16. Don't overlook the fact that you are working for
a boss. Keep him or her informed. Whatever
the boss wants, within the bounds of integrity,
takes top priority.
The intent here is not to encourage fawning behavior or
narrowness of scope, but only to suggest that for the
organization to achieve its goals, everyone must be on
the same page.
On the other hand, if you believe that your boss is not
seeing the big picture or is header in the wrong direction,
you should speak up and be straightforward about your
concerns.
When your boss gives you an assignment, make it a
priority, even though you may want to work on something
else...
17. Promises, schedules and estimates are
important instruments in a well-run business.
You must make promises - don't lean on the
often-used phrase: "I can't estimate it because
it depends on many uncertain factors.
Do you want to be known as someone who offers
excuses, reasons or results? I will take results any day.
Be fact-based. We all need to be disciplined and
accountable in the way we perform. Our customers
respect us more when we establish metrics for various
milestones so that actual performance can be tracked,
evaluated, and, if need be, improved...
18. Never direct a complaint to the top; a serious
offense is to "cc" a person's boss on a copy of
a complaint before the person has a chance to
response to the complaint.
If you have complaint, first take it directly to the individual
in a straightforward manner and give him or her a chance
to know about it and work it.
To send a complaint to an individual and at the same time
to "cc" that individual's boss can be counter-productive. I
have found that most times the problem may not get
solved and you've ended up alienating someone you will
need to work with later.
On the positive side, if you have something wonderful to
say about a peer, then by all means copy the boss. As it
is said, "Praise in public, admonish in private"...
19. When interacting with people outside the
company, remember that you are always
representing the company. Be especially
careful of your commitments.
No matter how much you may believe that you are just
speaking for yourself, you may well be perceived by

customers, suppliers and others to represent the
company's point of view.
Do not ever make commitments that are beyond your
scope of responsibility...
20. Cultivate the habit of boiling matters down to
the simplest terms: the proverbial "elevator
speech" is the best way.
Time is the discipline of the elevator speech. Space is the
discipline of having to pull out all your key points on one
3-by-5-inch card. Both disciplines require you to get the
point and focus on what action you're asking for.
Always ask yourself: Have I made the business case?
What action do I seek?...
21. Don't get excited in engineering emergencies:
keep your feet on the ground.
It is precisely when things go wrong that your leadership
skills will be most tested. If you help the team solve the
problem in a calm, professional manner, you will inspire
confidence.
You may want to use the "24-Hour Rule." That is, think
about the problem and, when possible, don't make a final
decision for 24 hours...
22. Cultivate the habit of making quick, clean-cut
decisions.
This does not mean one should act impulsively. Quick,
clean-cut decisions are the product of a mind that trains
itself to eliminate waste - to focus on value-added
thinking.
Stand by your decisions unless you find out something
new - or you discover that you were wrong. Then, quickly
and cleanly, make it right...
23. When making decisions, the "pros" are much
easier to deal with than the "cons". Your boss
wants to see both.
There is nothing more valuable than a review process
that surfaces all the potential consequences of an action
rather than just the best-case scenario.There is no way to
effectively weigh the risks and benefits of an action if one
is ignorant of the risks. By presenting both the pros and
the cons, you show others that you have thought the
problem through. You will have more credibility...
24. Don't ever lose your sense of humor.
This Rule and rule no. 25 are very important for balance,
and for connecting with others on a more personal level.
Good-natured humor acknowledges the humanity of
others and is a wonderful way to reduce tension on the
team...
25. Have fun at what you do. It will be reflected in
your work. No one likes a grump except
another grump!
We all spend many hours doing what we do. It is much
more pleasant to spend those hours with people who
have a bounce in their step and a smile on their face than
with those who mistakenly associate professionalism with
being sour and dour.
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I know our customers appreciate a team that enjoys what
it does...
26. Treat the name of the company as if it were
your own.
A company's reputation is built on a foundation of
integrity. The actions of each employee reflect on the
company. As a manager, you must help your employees
to see this - and to feel the responsibility.
I can't emphasize enough this idea of "ownership". Good
managers are looking to promote people who feel a
sense of stewardship for the company, a sense of
responsibility to always behave like an "owner" of the
company, like a member of the family...
27. Beg for the bad news.
"Begging for the bad news" means creating a climate in
which everyone on your team understands that the boss
wants to hear the bad as well as the good.
The leader must create a climate in which it is understood
reflexively that bad news, while never pleasant, must be
shared. And the sooner the bad new is aired, the better...
28. You remember 1/2 of what you read, 1/2 of what
people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.
By all means, be clear and crisp, be brief, get to the point,
be respectful of the time of other - but do not withdraw
from those you are trying to engage.
Reach out to make the connection. Show your humanity.
Tell a story. Relate it to a real situation.
There is nothing more powerful than sincerely engaging
others and revealing aspects of yourself. One must be
secure to do this. It is this security which inspires the
confidence of others...
29. You can't polish a sneaker.
In other words, don't waste effort putting the finishing
touches on something that has little substance to begin
with. If you polish a hollow shell, it's still a hollow shell,
albeit a shiny one.
Polishing a sneaker can inadvertently convince others
that the sneaker has a value that it doesn't possess. This
can distract an organization from important pursuits or
lead an organization down a dead end...
30. When facing issues or problems that are
becoming drawn-out, "short them to ground".
If you sense that your organization is spending more time
on the bureaucracy of solving a problem that on the
actual solution, you need to simplify the problem-solving
process.
"Shorting issues to the ground" means finding the
quickest path from problem to solution - avoiding non-
value-added procedures and delays...
31. When faced with decisions, try to look at them
as if you were one level up in the organization.
Your perspective will change quickly.
It is incredibly illuminating to step out of one's own role
and to look at the world from the perspective of one's
manager or one's manager's manager. As you see the

world from a higher perch, you take in more of the
landscape. From this vantage point, your role becomes
clearer. You see how you can contribute more effectively
to the goals of your organization...
32. A person who is nice to you but rude to the
waiter - or to others - is not a nice person (This
never fails!).
Watch out for people who have situational value systems
- who can turn the charm on and off depending on the
status of the person they are interacting with.
Be especially wary of those who are rude to people
perceived to be in subordinate roles. This kind of behavior
is not the mark of a leader...
33. Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember, an amateur built an ark that
survived a flood while a large group of
professionals built the Titanic!
Obviously, you need to think before you try something
new, and you need to know when to ask for help and
expert guidance, but don't talk yourself out of trying
something that your heart tells you is within your power to
accomplish. Often those less immersed in a field or
discipline have the unique perspective that produces the
answer...
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People sometimes ask me what I believe are the
essential qualities of leadership. To me the qualities
of leadership boil down to: Confidence, Dedication,
Integrity, and Love.
By "Confidence" I mean not only believing in
yourself, which is great, but also being
comfortable with yourself - with who you
are. That enables you to honestly access
yourself and acknowledge your weaknesses
as well as your strengths.
"Dedication" is the desire to work hard to be the
best you can be at any task - small as well
as large (remember Rule no. 8). The
members of your team will feel this
commitment and share it.
"Integrity" to me is having the fortitude to do what
is right when no one is watching.
"Love" isn't used often in corporate position
papers. I don't mean it in the "mushy"
sense. What I mean by "love" is a
willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of
others and the organization. It inspires the
dedication of those around you.
I believe we all have some of these qualities throughout
the various stages of our lives. But true leaders don't
just have these traits - they apply them and instill
them in others.

Dale Carnegie: „How to Win Friends and Influence People”
Fundamental Techniques in
Handling People
· Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
· Give honest and sincere appreciation.
· Arouse in the other person an eager
want.
Six ways to make people like you
· Become genuinely interested in other
people.
· Smile!
· Remember that a person's name is to
that person the sweetest and most
important sound in any language.
· Be a good listener. Encourage others
to talk about themselves.
· Talk in terms of the other person's
interests.
· Make the other person feel important -
and do it sincerely.
Twelve ways to win people to your
way of thinking
· The only way to get the best of an
argument is to avoid it.
· Show respect for the other person's
opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
· If you are wrong, admit it quickly and
emphatically.
· Begin in a friendly way.
· Get the other person saying "yes, yes"
immediately.
· Let the other person do a great deal
of the talking.
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· Let the other person feel that the idea
is his or hers.
· Try honestly to see things from the
other person's point of view.
· Be sympathetic with the other
person's ideas and desires.
· Appeal to the nobler motives.
· Dramatize your ideas.
· Throw down a challenge.
Be a Leader: How to Change People
Without Giving Offence or Arousing
Resentment
· Begin with praise and honest
appreciation.
· Call attention to people's mistakes
indirectly.
· Talk about your own mistakes before
criticizing the other person.
· Ask questions instead of giving direct
orders.
· Let the other person save face.
· Praise the slightest improvement and
praise every improvement. Be "hearty
in your approbation and lavish in your
praise."
· Give the other person a fine
reputation to live up to.
· Use encouragement. Make the fault
seem easy to correct.
· Make the other person happy about
doing the thing you suggest.

Seven surprises for new CEOs
by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch and Nitin Nohria (HBR)
Even the best-prepared new CEOs can be blindsided by
the realities – and limitations – of the job ...so much to do
in complex new areas, with imperfect information and
never enough time …the more power you have, the
harder it is to use.
Surprise One: You can’t run the company!
…the CEO can’t monitor everyone.
Surprise Two: Giving orders is costly!
…usually power is best used indirectly.
Surprise Three: It’s hard to know what’s really
going on!
…all information coming to the top is filtered.
Surprise Four: You’re always sending a message!
…the CEO’s microphone is always on.
Surprise Five: You’re not the boss!
…the board hired him and can also fire him.
Surprise Six: Pleasing shareholders is not the goal!
…ultimately, it’s only long-term profitability that matters,
not today’s growth expectations or even the stock price.
Surprise Seven: You’re still only human!
…stay humble, revisit decisions and actions, continue
to listen to others, and find people who will be honest
and forthright.
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Implications for CEO Leadership
The CEO must learn:
…to manage organizational context rather than focus
on daily operations
…how to act in indirect ways to create the conditions
that will help others make the right choices
…to set the tone and define the organization’s culture
and values through his words and actions
…to recognize that his position does not confer the
right to lead, nor does it guarantee the
organization’s loyalty
...that success ultimately depends on his ability to
enlist the voluntary commitment rather than the
forced obedience of others
…that the conventional tools of management alone
will not keep him in his job
…to not get totally absorbed in his role.
Only by maintaining a personal balance and staying
grounded can the CEO achieve the perspective required
to make decisions in the interest of the company and its
long-term prosperity.

The ways chief executive officers
lead
By Charles M. Farkas and Suzy Wetlaufer (HBR classic)
Where is the school for the person in charge of getting
the best results from all members of the organization?
There is no school for CEOs – except the school of
experience. CEOs must learn… while every stakeholder
is watching… they are allowed few mistakes.
There are five leadership approaches:
1. The Strategy Approach
CEOs who use this approach believe that their most
important job is to create, test, and design the
implementation of long-term strategy, extending in some
cases into the distant future… they believe his position
give them the best vantage point for making decisions
about capital allocations, resource management,
investment in technologies, new products, and locations
for doing business…
What makes a CEO decide to take on the strategy
approach? …the level of complexity in the company or
industry, in terms of technology, geography, or
organizational structure …he or she must frequently
make decisions that have enormous consequences.
2. The Human-Asset Approach
CEOs who use this approach believe that strategy
formulations belongs close to the markets, in the
business units… they believe that their imperative is hire
and cultivate a kind of individuals who will act intelligently,
swiftly, and appropriately without direct or constant
supervision… their primary job is to impart to their
organizations certain values, behaviors, and attitudes by
closely managing growth and development of
individuals...
What makes a CEO decide to take on the human-assets
approach? …the success of the organization depends on
superior execution – the way members of the company
makes decisions, interact with customers, roll our new
products, or design programs to deflect or defeat the
competition.
3. The Expertise Approach
CEOs who use this approach believe that their most
important responsibility is selecting and disseminating
within the corporation an area of expertise that will be a
source of competitive advantage… they reward people
who acquire the expertise and share it across the borders
of business units and functions…
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What makes a CEO decide to take on the expertise
approach? …a well-conceived, carefully developed area
of competence is the surest way to gain and sustain a
competitive advantage.
4. The Box Approach
CEOs who use this approach believe that they can add
the most value in their organizations by creating,
communicating, and monitoring an explicit set of controls
– financial, cultural, or both – that ensure uniform,
predictable behaviors and experiences for customers and
employees …they say that building frameworks and
drawing boundaries are their primary responsibilities…
they believe that this approach is the best way to deliver
what customer wants most: no surprises… they apply the
pressure of orthodoxy to the corporation…
What makes a CEO decide to take on the box approach?
…in highly regulated industries, such as banking, or
industries in which safety is a paramount concern, such
as airlines.
5. The Change Approach
CEOs who use this approach believe that the CEOs’ most
critical role is to create an environment of continual
reinvention, even if such an environment produces
anxiety and confusion, leads to some strategic mistakes,
and temporarily hurts financial performance… they
cultivate an environment of constant questioning and risk
taking… they believe that passion, energy and an
openness to a new, reinvented tomorrow matters… one
of change agents most important techniques: consensus
building…
What makes a CEO decide to take on the role of chief
strategist? …change is the best way to deliver
consistently extraordinary results.
In most effectively run organizations, CEOs select a
dominant approach, using it as the compass and rudder
that all corporate decisions and actions… sometimes the
approach fits the CEOs personality, sometimes not…
CEO’s approach can and should change over the course
of his or her tenure… a business is a living organism…
there will always be a point where the environment
changes, the competition changes, something critical
changes, and you must realize this and take the leading
role in meeting change…

What makes an effective
executive?
By Peter Drucker (HBR classic)
An effective executive does not need to be a leader in the
sense that the term is now most commonly used…
Effective executives …were all over the map in terms of
their personalities, attitudes, values, strength, and
weaknesses …ranged from extroverted to nearly
reclusive, from easygoing to controlling, from generous to
parsimonious.
What made them all effective is that they followed the
same eight… (plus one) …practices:
To get the knowledge they…
Ask what needs to be done.
Ask what is right for the enterprise.
To convert the knowledge into action they …
Develop action plans.
Take responsibility for decisions.
Take responsibility for communicating.
Focus on opportunities rather than problems.
To ensure that the whole organization feels responsible
and accountable, they…
Run productive meetings.
Think and say “we” rather than “I”.
Plus one final practice...
… ;-)))
The first practice is to ask what needs
to be done.
Failure to ask this question will render even the ablest
executive ineffectual… the answer to the question “What
needs to be done?” almost always contains more than
one urgent task... effective executives do not splitter
themselves… concentrate on one task if at all possible…
set priorities and stick to them… after completing the
original top-priority task, the executive resets priorities
rather than moving on to number two from the original
list… asks, “What must be done now?”… he asks himself,
which of the two or three tasks at the top of the list he
himself is best suited to undertake… than he
concentrates on that task, the others he delegates…
The second practice is to ask what is
right for the enterprise.
They do not ask if it’s right for the owner, the stock price,
the employees, or the executives… they know that a
decision that isn’t right for the enterprise will ultimately not
be right for any of the stakeholders…
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The third practice is to develop action
plans.
Executives are doers, they execute… knowledge is
useless to executives until it has been translated into
deeds… but before springing into action, the executive
needs to plan his course… needs to think about desired
results, probable restraints, future revisions, check-in
points, and implications for how well he’ll spend this
time… The action plan is a statement of intentions rather
than commitment… must not become a straitjacket…
should be revised often, because every success creates
new opportunities – so does the failure… A written plan
should anticipate the need for flexibility… needs to create
a system for checking the results against the
expectations… has to become the basis for the
executive’s time management… Without action plan, the
executive becomes a prisoner of events… without check-
ins to reexamine the plan as events unfold, the executive
has no way of knowing which events really matter and
which are only noise…
The fourth practice is to take
responsibility for decisions.
A decision has not been made until people know …the
name of the person accountable for carrying it out …the
deadline …the names of the people who will be affected
by the decision …the names of the people who have to
be informed even if they are not directly affected. It’s
important to review decisions periodically… poor
decisions can be corrected before it does real damage…
Decision review also shows executives their own
weakness… areas in which they are simply
incompetent… in this area smart executives don’t make
decisions or take actions – they delegate…
The fifth practice is to take
responsibility for communicating.
Effective executives make sure that both their action plan
and their information needs are understood… they share
their plans… ask for comments… let each people know
what information they’ll need to get the job done…
Organizations are held together by information rather
than by ownership or command... the executives has to
identify the information he needs, ask for it, and keep
pushing until he gets it…

The sixth practice is to focus on
opportunities rather than problems.
Problem solving, however necessary, does not produce
results… it prevents damage… exploiting opportunities
produces results… effective executives treat change as
an opportunity rather than a threat… they systematically
look at changes, inside and outside the corporation…
staffing is an other important aspect of being opportunity
focuses… effective executives put their best people on
opportunities rather than problems…
The seventh practice is to run
productive meetings.
Executives must make meetings productive… must make
sure that meetings are work sessions rather than bull
session… must decide in advance what kind of meeting it
will be... making a meeting productive takes a good deal
of self-discipline… good executives don’t raise another
matter for discussion – they sum up and adjourn… good
follow-up is just as important as the meeting itself…
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The eights practice is to think and say
“we” rather than “I”.
Effective executives know they have the authority only
because they have the trust of the organization… they
think of the needs and the opportunities of the
organization before they think of their own needs and
opportunities…
The final practice is…
This one is so important that Peter Drucker elevates it to
the level of a rule: Listen first, speak last!
Effective executives differ widely in their personalities,
strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs… all they
have in common is that they get the right things done…
effectiveness is a discipline… effectiveness can be
learned and must be learned.

What makes a leader?
by Daniel Goleman (HBR Classic)
IQ and technical skills… are the entry-level requirements
for executive positions …Emotional intelligence is the
sine qua non of leadership.
There are five components of emotional intelligence: self-
awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and
social skill…
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of
one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and
drives…as well as their effect on others… honest with
themselves and with others… extends to one persons
understanding of his or her values or goals… know where
one is headed and why… show itself as candor and…
assess oneself realistically… speak accurately and
openly, also not necessarily effusively or confessionally,
about ones emotions and the impact they have on their
work… know ones limitations and strengths…
demonstrate a thirst for constructive criticism… knowing
when to ask for help…
Self–Regulation
Self-regulation, which is like an ongoing inner
conversation, is the component of emotional intelligence
that frees us from being prisoners of our feelings…
biological impulses drive our emotions... we cannot do
away with them… but we can do much to manage them…
finding ways to control… bad moods and emotional
impulses… channel them in useful ways… being in
control of ones feelings and impulses… step back and
consider the reasons… create an environment of trust
and fairness… don’t panic… suspend judgment, seek out
information, and listen… a propensity for reflection and
thoughtfulness, comfort with ambiguity and change,
integrity, and an ability to say no to impulsive urges…
think before acting…
Motivation
Motivation means driven to achieve beyond expectations,
ones own and everyone else’s… motivated by deeply
embedded desire to achieve for the sake of
achievement… rather than external rewards… a passion
for work itself… love to learn… displaying an unflagging
energy to do things better… restless with the status
quo… forever raising the performance bar… like to keep
score… tracking progress… remain optimistic… seeing
opportunities… loving ones job for the job itself… feeling
committed to the organization that makes the work
possible…
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Empathy
Empathy means thoughtfully considering others’ feelings,
along with other factors, in a process of making intelligent
decisions… knowing intuitively what other people are
feeling… hearing the message beneath the words being
spoken… understanding the emotional makeup of
other people… treating people according to their
emotional reactions…
Social Skill
Social skill is friendliness with a purpose… moving
people in the direction one desire… having a circle of
acquaintance… a knack for finding common ground with
people of all kinds… a knack of building rapport…
having a network in place when the time for action
comes… the culmination of the other dimensions of
emotional intelligence: people tend to be very effective at
managing relationship when they can understand and
control their own emotions and can empathize with the
feeling of others… even motivation contributes to social
skill… social skilled people… are adept at managing
teams…are expert persuades… know when to make an
emotional plea… are excellent collaborators… build
bonds widely because they know in this fluid times, they
may need help someday from people they are just getting
to know today…
Social intelligence allows leaders to put their
emotional intelligence to work: manage relationship…
express his or her empathy… communicate his or her
passion… no leader is an island… after all, the leader’s
task is to get work done through other people, and social
skill makes that possible…

The Manager’s job:
Folklore and fact
By Henry Mintzberg (hrb classics)
If you ask managers what they do, they will most likely tell
you that they plan, organise, co-ordinate, and control…
watch what they do... don't be surprised if you can't relate
what you see to these words… it is time to strip away the
folklore about managerial work and study it realistically so
that we can begin the difficult task of making significant
improvements in its performance.
Folklore and Facts About
Managerial Work
Folklore: The manager is a reflective, systematic
planner.
Fact: Managers work at an unrelenting pace… their
activities are characterized by brevity, variety, and
discontinuity… they are strongly oriented to action and
dislike reflective activities… chief executives met a steady
stream of callers and mails… coffee breaks and lunches
were inevitably work related… the manager is simply
responding to the pressures of the job… terminating
many of their own activities.. leaving meetings before the
end… interrupting their desk work to call in
subordinates… they seemed to be conditioned by their
own work loads… when managers must plan, they seem
to do so implicitly in the context of daily actions… the
plans only in their heads… as flexible, but often specific,
intentions.
Folklore: The effective manager has no regular duties to
perform… managers are constantly being told to spend
more time planning and delegating and less time seeing
customers and engaging in negotiations.
Fact: The managerial work involves performing a number
of regular duties, including ritual and ceremony,
negotiations, and processing of soft information that links
the organisation with its environment… managers play a
key role in securing soft external information and in
passing it along to their subordinates.
Folklore: The senior manager needs aggregated
information, which a formal management information
system best provides… the literature’s manager was to
receive all important information from a giant,
comprehensive MIS (management information system).
Fact: These giant MIS systems are not working…
managers are simply not using them… managers strongly
favour verbal media, telephone calls and meetings, over
documents… managers seem to cherish “soft”
information, especially gossip, hearsay, and
speculation… why?... today’s gossip may be tomorrow’s
fact… the manager identifies decision situations and
builds models not with the aggregated abstractions an
MIS provides but with specific tidbits of data… the odds
and ends of tangible detail that pieced together in his
mind illuminate the underside the issues put before him…
verbal information is stored in the brains of people… the
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strategic data bank of the organisation is not in the
memory of its computers but in the minds of its
managers… they are damned by their own information
system to a "dilemma of delegation"… to do too much or
to delegate to subordinates with inadequate briefing.
Folklore: Management is, or at least is quickly becoming,
a science and a profession…
Fact: By almost any definition of science and profession,
this statement is false… science involves the usage of
systematic, analytically determined procedures or
programs… if we do not even know what procedures
managers use, how can we prescribe them by scientific
analysis?… how can we call management a profession if
we cannot specify what managers are to learn?… the
managers' programs-to schedule time, process
information, make decisions, and so on-remain locked
deep inside their brains… to describe these programs, we
rely on words like judgement and intuition… seldom
stopping to realize that they are merely labels for our
ignorance.
The Managers Roles
I defined the manager as that person in charge of an
organization or sub-unit… all these managers are vested
with formal authority over an organizational unit… from
formal authority comes status, which leads to various
interpersonal relations… from these comes access to
information… information enables the manager to make
decisions and strategies for the unit. The manager’s roles
comprises ten roles…three interpersonal roles… three
informational roles… four decisional roles:
Interpersonal Roles… arise directly from formal
authority and involve basic interpersonal relationships.
Figurehead role... every manager must perform some
ceremonial duties.. Duties that involve interpersonal roles
may sometimes be routine, involving little serious
communication and no important decision making… they
are important to the smooth functioning of an organization
and cannot be ignored.
Leader role… managers are responsible for the work of
the people of their unit... every manager must motivate
and encourage employees… reconciling their individual
needs with the goals of the organization…the influence of
managers is most clearly seen in the leader role...
literature of management has always recognized the
leader role.
Liaison role… the manager makes contacts outside the
vertical chain of command… managers spend as much
time with peers and other people outside their units as
they do with their own subordinates…and spend very little
time with their own superiors.
Informational Roles… the manager emerges as the
nerve center of the organizational unit… the manager
may not know everything but typically knows more than
subordinates do… processing information is a key part of
the manager’s job

Monitor role… the manager is perpetually scanning the
environment for information… interrogating liaison
contacts and subordinates… a good part of the
information the manager collects in the monitor role
arrives in verbal form, often as gossip, hearsay, and
speculation.
Disseminator role… the manager passes some
privileged information directly to subordinates.
Spokesperson role… the manager sends some
information to people outside the unit.
Decisional Roles… information is not an end in
itself… it is the basic input to decision making… the
manager plays the major role in the unit's decision-
making system.
Entrepreneur role… the manager seeks to improve the
unit, to adapt it to changing conditions in the
environment… initiates a development project that he
may supervise himself or delegate to an employee.
Disturbance handler role… the managers involuntarily
responding to pressures... change is beyond the
manager’s control... the pressures of a situation are too
severe to be ignored… the manager must act… every
manager must spend a considerable amount of time
responding to high-pressure disturbances.
Resource allocator role… the manager is responsible
for deciding who will get what… the most important
resource the manager allocates is his or her own time...
the manager authorises the important decisions of the
unit before they are implemented… executives made a
great many authorisation decisions on an ad hoc basis...
faced incredibly complex choices…they had to ensure
that the decisions would be acceptable… that resources
would not be overextended… the delay could lose time…
quick approval could be ill-considered… quick rejection
might discourage the subordinates… one common
solution to approving projects is to pick the person
instead of the proposal… people whose judgement he or
she trusts.
Negotiator role... managers spend considerable time in
negotiations… an integral part of the manager’s job…only
he or she has the authority to commit organisational
resources in "real time" and the nerve-center information
that important negotiations require.
The Integrated Job Toward More
Effective Management
It should be clear that these ten roles are not easily
separable… they form a gestalt… an integrated whole…
managers give different attention to each role.. in all
cases the interpersonal, information, and decisional roles
remain inseparable.
The managers' effectiveness is significantly influenced by
their insight into their own work… performance depends
on how well a manager understands and responds to the
pressures and dilemmas of the job… managers who can
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be introspective about their work are likely to be effective
at their jobs.
The manager is challenged to find systematic ways to
share privileged information… share the database
centralised in his or her brain… deal consciously with the
pressures of superficiality (take on took much work,
encourage interruption, respond quickly to every stimulus,
seek the tangible and avoid the abstract)… supplement
their own models with those of specialists (describe the
functioning of markets, simulate financial flow processes,
explain the needs and goals of people… the best of these
models can be searched out and learned)… gain from a
close relationship with the organsation’s own
management scientists / analysts (managers have the
information and the authority; analysts have the time and
the technology)… gain control of his or her own time by
turning obligations into advantages and by turning those
things he or she wishes to do into obligations
(unsuccessful managers blame failure on the
obligations… effective managers turn obligations to
advantages)… frees some time to do the things that he or
she thinks important by turning them into obligations (free
time is made, not found).
Managers who …want to innovate initiate projects and
obligate others to report back to them …need certain
environmental information establish channels that will
automatically keep them informed …have to tour facilities
commit themselves publicly.
Retrospective Commentary by Henry
Mintzberg
In practice, management has to be two-faced… there has
to be a balance between the insightful face and the
cerebral face… one stresses commitment, the other
calculation… one sees the world with integrated
perspective, the other figures it as the components of
portfolio… the insightful face is rooted in the images and
feel of a manager’s integrity… the cerebral face operates
with the words and numbers of rationality… managerial
communication was largely oral… the advent of the
computer had not changed anything fundamental… the
greatest threat the personal computer poses is that
managers will take it seriously and come to believe that
they can manage by remaining in their offices and looking
at displays of digital characters… managers need more
ways to convey the images and impressions they carry
inside of them… managing insightfully depends on the
direct experience and personal knowledge that come
from intimate contact… organisations grown larger and
more diversified… so managers turn increasingly to the
cerebral face, and the delicate balance between the two
faces is lost.
No job is more vital to our society than that of the
manager. The manager determines whether our social
institutions will serve us well or whether they will
squander our talents and resources.

Self-Study Questions for Managers
From “The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact”, by Henry
Mintzberg, hbr classics
1. Where do I get my information, and how? Can I make
greater use of my contacts? Can other people do some of
my scanning? In what areas is my knowledge weakest,
and how can I get others to provide me with the
information I need? Do I have sufficiently powerful mental
models of those things I must understand within the
organisation and in its environment?
2. What information do I disseminate? How important is
that information to my subordinates? Do I keep too much
information to myself because disseminating it is time
consuming or inconvenient? How can I get more
information to others so they can make better decisions?
3. Do I tend to act before information is in? Or do I wait so
long for all the information that opportunities pass me by?
4. What pace of change am I asking my organisation to
tolerate? Is this change balanced so that our operations
are neither excessively static nor overly disrupted? Have
we sufficiently analysed the impact of this change on the
future of our organisation?
5. Am I sufficiently well-informed to pass judgement on
subordinates’ proposals? Can I leave final authorisation
for more of the proposals with subordinates? Do we have
problems of coordination because subordinates already
make too many decisions independently?
6. What is my vision for this organisation? Are these
plans primarily in my own mind in loose form? Should I
make them explicit to guide the decisions of others
better? Or do I need flexibility to change them at will?
7. How do my subordinates react to my managerial style?
Am I sufficiently sensitive to the powerful influence of my
actions? Do I fully understand their reactions to my
actions? Do I find an appropriate balance between
encouragement and pressure? Do I stifle their initiative?
8. What kind of external relationships do I maintain, and
how? Do I spend too much of my time maintaining them?
Are there certain people who I should get to know better?
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9. Is there any system to my time scheduling, or an I just
reacting to the pressures of the moment? Do I find the
appropriate mix of activities or concentrate on one
particular function or problem just because I find it
interesting? Am I more efficient with particular kinds of
work, at special times of the day or week? Does my
schedule reflect this? Can someone else schedule my
time (besides my secretary)?
10. Do I overwork? What effect does my work load have
on my efficiency? Should I force myself to take breaks or
to reduce the pace of my activity?
11. Am I too superficial in what I do? Can I really shift
moods as quickly and frequently as my work requires?
Should I decrease the amount of fragmentation and
interruption in my work?
12. Do I spend too much time on current, tangible
activities? Am I a slave to the action and excitement of
my work, so that I am no longer able to concentrate on
issues? Do key problems receive the attention they
deserve? Should I spend more time reading and probing
deeply into certain issues? Could I be more reflective?
Should I be?
13. Do I use the different media appropriately? Do I know
how to make the most of written communication? Do I
rely excessively on face-to-face communication, thereby
putting all but a few of my subordinates at an
informational disadvantage? Do I schedule enough of my
meetings on a regular basis? Do I spend enough time
observing activities first-hand, or am I detached from the
heart of my organisation’s activities.
14. How do I blend my personal rights and duties? Do my
obligations consume all my time? How can I free myself
from obligations to ensure that I am taking this
organisation where I want it to go? How can I turn my
obligations to my advantages?
 os, 29-Sep-09

Why Should Anyone Be Led by

You?
by Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones, HBR
You can’t do anything in business without followers, and
followers in these empowered times are hard to find..
executives must find ways to engage people and rouse
their commitment to company goals… leaders need
vision, energy, authority, and strategic direction but to be
inspirational, leaders need four other qualities:
Reveal Weaknesses
By exposing some vulnerability, they reveal their
approachability and humanity… they show us who they
are… people need to see leaders own up to some flaw
before they participate willingly in an endeavour… if
executives try to communicate that they are perfect at
everything, there will be no need for anyone to help them
with anything… exposing weakness established trust…
builds solidarity… underscores a human being’s
authenticity… offers a leader valuable protection – if you
don’t show some weakness, then observers may invent
one for you… the golden rule is never to expose a
weakness that will be seen as a fatal flaw that jeopardizes
central aspects of your professional role… leaders should
reveal only a tangential flow, perhaps even several of
them… this admission will help divert attention away from
major weaknesses… if the leader’s vulnerability is not
perceived to be genuine, he won’t gain anyone’s
support…
Become a Sensor
They rely heavily on intuition to gauge the appropriate
timing and course of their actions… their ability to collect
and interpret soft data helps them know just when and
how to act… when to reveal a weakness or a difference…
they can sniff out the signals in the environment and
sense what’s going on without having anything spelt out
for them… read the silence and pick up on nonverbal
cues in the organization… sensing can create problems…
in making fine judgments about how far they can go,
leaders risk losing their followers… sensing capability
must always be framed by reality testing… validate the
perception with a trusted adviser or a member of the inner
team…
Practice Tough Empathy
Inspirational leaders empathize passionately and
realistically with people, and they care intensely about the
work employees do… real leaders don’t need a training
program to convince their employees that they care…
empathy of inspirational leaders is not the soft kind
described in so much of the management literature… real
leaders manage trough tough empathy… means giving
people what they need, not what they want… “if I have to
do, I can be ruthless, … but while they are with me, I
promise my people that they’ll learn”… tough empathy
balances respect for the individual and for the task at
hand… caring leaders have to give selflessly to the
people around them and know when to pull back… caring
with detachment is not easy… it is harder to you than on
your employees… you have to do things you don’t want
to do… those more apt to use it are people who really
care about something… people want executives who care
passionately about the people and the work…
Dare to Be Different
They capitalize on what's unique about themselves…
effective leaders deliberately use differences to keep a
social distance... by having a different dress style,
physical appearance, qualities like imagination, loyalty
expertise or even handshaking… anything can be a
difference, but it is important to communicate it… most
leaders start off not knowing what their differences are
but eventually come to know and use them more
effectively over time… inspirational leaders use
separateness to motivate others to perform better… it is
not that they are being Machiavellian but that they
recognize instinctively that followers will push themselves
if their leaders is just al little aloof… one danger, of
course, is that executives can overdifferentiate
themselves and lose contact with their followers…
Leadership in action
Make yourself increasingly aware of the four leadership
qualities and manipulate these qualities to come up with a
personal style that works for you… be yourself – more -
with skill…

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