1138 Posts Found

Imagine the differences in behavior between leaders who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to follow the leader’s vision” and those who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to face its problems and to live into its opportunities.” That second idea—mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges—is what defines the new job of the leader.

Content: Quotation | Author: Ronald A. Heifetz | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Leadership

Not everything is subject to change. If the role of the leader is first to help people face reality and then to mobilize them to make change, then one of the questions that defines both of those tasks is this: What’s precious, and what’s expendable? Which values and operations are so central to our core that if we lose them, we lose ourselves? And which … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Ronald A. Heifetz | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Change Management, Leadership, Management

Why do so many people dislike their bosses? One reason is that people in positions of authority are frequently asked not to exercise their leadership. Instead of mobilizing their constituents to face tough, frustrating challenges, they are asked to protect those constituents from having to make adjustments. That’s why leadership is dangerous. Sure, you have to protect people from change. But you also have to … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Ronald A. Heifetz | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Change Management, Leadership, Organizational Behavior

As any frustrated executive can vouch, the best plans count for naught if they are not implemented. Yet what exists, other than gut instinct, to inform leaders’ decisions around organizational engagement? In focusing on strategy execution and changes that depend on large numbers of people working together, we identify three factors that are present when organizations achieve their goals.

Content: Article | Authors: Andrew Garber, David Brown, Frederick D. Miller | Source: Deloitte Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

The purpose of this article is to analyze the so-called differences between Command, Leadership and Management (CLM), see whether these differences are a reality or are mere perceptions, and come out with a true understanding of these vital aspects of professional excellence. This may help professionals in understanding and practicing their roles creatively and effectively. Let us first analyze the debate on differences between Leadership … [ Read more ]

Content: Member-Contributed Content | Author: Iftikhar Ahmed Khan | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Executives can’t take their businesses on a successful journey if they don’t know the destination—or how to get there.

Content: Article | Author: Jay Freeman | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Is it more important to say the right thing or act the right way? Professor Gruenfeld provides compelling research about how we perceive power in our relationships, examining the words we use, non-verbal cues and the ways in which we communicate. She shares how we can most effectively get our message across.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Deborah H. Gruenfeld | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Career, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

I’m not a great fan of reorganization. Reorganizations tend to be something you do to people, not for people. Most reorganizations that I’ve seen really were for the purpose of getting around people, solving problems that should have been addressed directly by getting rid of them. You give me the right people, and I don’t much care what organization you give me. Good things will … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Colin Powell | Source: Context Magazine | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

People ask me, Where did your leadership training come from? I am sometimes reluctant to admit that everything I did in 35 years in the service I learned as a brand new second lieutenant.

I was taught to think about mission and people.

Mission. What are you trying to accomplish? Don’t do anything until you know what the mission is. Drilled into our hearts and into our … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Colin Powell | Source: Context Magazine | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Mission

The challenge for me was to have informal contacts and to get information from outside the organization that had been set up to provide me information. I did that beginning at 6:30 every morning, when I’d hit my office having read all the newspapers. I would get the CIA to come in for 20 minutes with no other staff members present and tell me what … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Colin Powell | Source: Context Magazine | Subjects: Competitive Intelligence, Decision Making, Knowledge, Leadership

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.

Content: Quotation | Subjects: Competence, Leadership, Management, Skills

It may be five centuries old, but The Prince remains one of the most quoted leadership tomes of all times. The reason for its persistent popularity is clear: “Big Mac” was an unabashed realist.

Content: Article | Author: James O’Toole | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Leadership

Companies can no longer rely on single individuals at the top to handle the complexity and uncertainty of the global environment. Instead, they need “leadership ensembles”—teams that can capitalize on diversity, stay current with developments in different parts of the world while anticipating future trends and their implications, and make smart decisions without sacrificing speed.

Leadership ensembles are groups of executives, each with distinctive expertise and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Claudy Jules, Joshua J. Bellin, Nandani Lynton, Robert J. Thomas | Source: Accenture | Subjects: International, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

The most powerful weapon a leader has is the power of his or her attention.

Content: Quotation | Source: Bain & Company | Subject: Leadership

One typically sees a number of recurring patterns of behavior that influence an individual’s effectiveness within an organization. I think of these patterns as leadership “archetypes,” reflecting the various roles executives can play in organizations and it is a lack of fit between a leader’s archetype and the context in which he or she operates is a main cause of team and organizational dysfunctionality … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Manfred Kets de Vries | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

I realize now that an effective leader or manager can come in a virtually infinite number of forms. I have way more respect for the heterogeneity of excellence. That took a long time because it is so tempting to try and paint a very specific picture of what you think effective leadership is or what an effective organization looks like. The older I get and … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Malcolm Gladwell | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Since expectations of leaders change from country to country, how should multiculturals adjust?

Content: Article | Author: Caroline Rook | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: International, Leadership, Organizational Behavior

Leaders don’t all walk and talk the same. Staying true to one’s culture is integral to empowered leadership.

Content: Article | Author: Li Huang | Source: INSEAD Knowledge | Subjects: International, Leadership, Organizational Behavior

To Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, coauthor of How Will You Measure Your Life?, a primary task of leadership is asking questions that anticipate great challenges.

Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Art Kleiner, Clayton M. Christensen | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Leadership

Entrepreneurial leaders need to learn to be cognitively ambidextrous, engaging both prediction logic and creation logic, in their decision-making approach. When an organization’s future goals and environment reflect the past, entrepreneurial leaders can engage traditional analytic models to predict and manage the situation. However, when the future is unknowable and bears little resemblance to the past, entrepreneurial leaders must learn how to create the future … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership