Successful organizations have a one-two punch. Others have a one punch. In the world of boxing, having a one-two punch means that the boxer has a combination of two quick blows in rapid succession, e.g. a left jab followed at once by hard blow with the right hand.
In the world of business having a one-two punch means having great leaders and great managers. Many companies have forgotten they need both. From my perspective, we need managers who understand leadership and leaders who understand the importance of management.
Marcus Buckingham in his book, The One Thing You Need to Know ... About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success, Free Press, 2005, explains the difference between managers and leaders in the following manner. “To excel as a manager you must never forget that each of your direct reports is unique and that your chief responsibility is not to eradicate this uniqueness, but rather to arrange roles, responsibilities, and expectations so that you can capitalize upon it. The more you perfect this skill, the more effectively you will turn talents into performance.
To excel as a leader requires the opposite skill. You must become adept at calling upon those needs we all share. Our common needs include the need for security, for community, for authority, and for respect, but for you, the leader, the most powerful universal need is our need for clarity. To transform our fear of the unknown into confidence in the future, you must discipline yourself to describe our joint future vividly and precisely. As your skill at this grows, so will our confidence in you.”
As we turn our sights to 2011 and all of the new challenges and opportunities that it brings, please remember that registration for the 2011 From Vision to Action Leadership Training is this Friday, December 10.
For more information about dates, costs and location, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html. If you are wanting a strong one-two punch in 2011, then now is the time to sign up your key people and help them to become better managers and leaders.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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