Came across this quote today–seems a propros the discussion of management and leadership.

It seems to me that whereas power usually means power-over, the power of some person or group over some other person or group, it is possible to develop the conception of power-with, a jointly developed power, a co-active, not coercive power.

If leadership does not mean coercion in any form, if it does not mean controlling, protecting or exploiting, what does it mean? It means, I think, freeing.  The greatest service [one person] can render another is to increase his freedom–his free range of activity and thought and his power of control.

Leader and followers are both following the invisible leaders–the common purpose.

Mary Parker Follett

What comes up for you when you read this?

I’m uncomfortable with the manager vs. leader dichotomy that’s bandied about lately.

Most of the time, the conversation is reduced to a sound bite: “Managers do things right, leaders to the right thing” (from a Warren Bennis quote).

Cute, but not helpful.

There is no single definition of management or leadership. How you define either term depends on your view of human nature and motivation.

Some people would define management as the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. On the other hand, Drucker would say the two central tasks of management are helping workers to achieve and moving capital from less to more productive areas.

When we talk about leaders, are we talking about charismatic leaders who gather followers to support them in implementing their own vision? Or are we talking about people who help people find their own power and creativity?

How management and leadership is practiced depends on the predominant beliefs of the organization and the mental model and skills of individuals. I believe that leadership doesn’t exist only in a role. It’s in taking action that make it possible for people to bring their best thinking and creativity to bear in solving problems and creating value. And frankly, I don’t see the title (or role) of manager going away any time soon. For one thing, there are legal and financial implications of doing away with the role.

Rather than denigrating the role (and by implication the people in that role) I would find it more useful to talk about what sort of support teams need, what skills are needed to provide that support and then design roles around that.

Maybe we can start a different conversation.

Here’s one starting point to think about the skills that people in management roles and leaders at all levels need (from Welter and Egmon):

Eight Essential Skills of a Prepared Mind:

• Observing
• Reasoning
• Imagining
• Challenging
• Deciding
• Learning
• Enabling
• Reflecting

I add:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Ability to see systems
• Interpersonal skills

What sort of support does your team need?

What skills and attitudes will enable that support?

What might that role look like?

What does the organization as a whole need from that role?

“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when it’s the only one you have.”

Emile-Auguste Chartier

There are three states in problem solving.

• Not enough ideas
• Too many ideas
• Just the right number of ideas

In the first case (stuck) the task is to generate ideas.

In the second case (stuck in churn) the task is to prune the number of ideas.

In the third, to test and refine the ideas, then implement and refine.

Stuck in Neutral

Fixing the Quick Fix

This blog is moving.

Two factors came together: I decided to move to Word Press and Blogger decided to discontinue support for non-hosted blogs. Done deal.

New Location: http://www.estherderby.com/category/insights

New Feed: http://www.estherderby.com/feed

We think of managers making decisions, setting priorities, organizing work, keeping budgets, and mentoring people.

What we’ve overlooked or ignored is a manager’s role as designer. Managers are designers of the experience of work and of systems to produce valuable products.

As designers, we need to answer 13 essential questions.

1. How does the work really work?

2. What information and tools do people need to do their work?

3. How can we build feedback into the work so that people can find and fix their own mistakes quickly, and learn from them?

4. How do we know when a chunk of work is done?

5. What is the capacity of the team?

6. How long does it take us to know if we are off track?

7. How do structures affect people’s ability to accomplish their work?

8. What message does our reward system send?

9. What message do our policies and procedures send?

10. What happens when people bring unwelcome news?

11. How do my management actions affect people and work?

12. What do I “know” that ain’t so?

13. What do I know that I forget at work?