What Leaders Do

If we are to develop our abilities to lead, we need to be clear about what leaders do. Leading is distinct from managing. I have written about this distinction before. The clearest explanation I have come across of the difference between managing and leading comes from John P. Kotter in his book A Force for Change. Following is a summary of Kotter’s explanation. I recommend reading his book to gain a deeper understanding of the distinction between managers and leaders.

Managers plan and budget. They establish the steps needed to achieve specific results, create a timeline for completing those steps, and obtain the resources necessary for goal accomplishment. Leaders establish direction. They develop a vision of the future and determine the strategies for producing the desired change.

Managers organize and staff. They establish the structure needed to implement the plan and then acquire and assign the needed personnel. Managers delegate responsibility and authority to complete tasks, establish policies and procedures to guide behavior, and create systems to monitor performance. Leaders align people. They communicate the vision to those whose cooperation is needed and form coalitions to support the change.

Managers control and problem solve. They monitor results and take action to correct deviations from the plan. Leaders motivate and inspire. They energize people to overcome barriers to change.

Managers produce order. Their job is to establish stability, predictability, and consistency. Leaders produce change. Their role is to disrupt the status quo and encourage creativity and innovation.

Success comes to organizations by balancing managing and leading. Too much managing brings about stagnation. An excess of leading creates chaos. By understanding how leading and managing differ, we can better ensure that both functions are fulfilled.

My experience is that most organizations suffer from a leadership void. In my next entry I will discuss the organizational culture required to develop leaders.

Journaling

Journaling is an important tool for self-development. There are many forms of journaling. One practice is called “morning pages.” Developed by author and artist Julia Cameron, this process involves starting each day by simply writing three pages in your journal. Just keep writing without stopping. The regular act of writing can uncover new discoveries about you.

There are more intentional forms of journaling. For example, when struggling with a problem, it is useful to dialogue with yourself in your journal. Ask yourself a question and then write the answers that emerge.

You may also use questions to explore your inner terrain. Following are some starter questions you might journal about as a follow up to the process I outlined in the previous entry entitled “It’s About You”.

Who am I?
Who do I want to be?
Who do others think I am?
What do I identify with?
Who would I like to be like?
Who are my heroes?
What do I wish people knew about me?
What do I not want others to know about me?
How would I like others to see me?
What is the image I project as a leader?
What image would I like to convey as a leader?
Who are leaders I admire? Why?

It's About You

You learn to lead by leading. Book learning cannot substitute for experience. However, you can prepare yourself and hone your skills to lead.

Leading starts with being a leader. This involves an inner journey of discovery. To develop yourself as a leader begins with discovering who you are. What do you value? What is your life’s purpose? What is your vision of what you are striving to create with your life? What are your strengths and weaknesses? It is from your sense of identity that your actions emerge. Your actions beget outer results.

This shall be the first in a series of blog entries about becoming a leader. I shall lead you on an inner journey of discovery to find the leader within.

You are multifaceted. You are body, mind, soul, and spirit. To uncover the many facets of your identity, complete the sentence stem “I am…” at least thirty times with a different answer each time. What do your answers reveal about who you are?

Now complete the sentence stem “I am a leader because….” What does your answer reveal about your identity as a leader?

I stated that you are body, mind, soul, and spirit. A focus on your body involves strengthening physical wellness. Concern for mind is about developing your intellectual capacity. Soul work refers to deepening your awareness of your inner connection with the universal. To nurture spirit involves expanding your consciousness of the unity of all creation. We shall address all four of these aspects of self as we progress through this leader development process.

Let’s take a moment now to connect with your soul. The soul is the presence of the universal deep within you. You may refer to the universal with whatever term is meaningful for you—God, Divine, Creator, Cosmic Consciousness, Universe. To connect with this ultimate source, try the following exercise.
1. Start by becoming aware of your surroundings.
2. Then shift your awareness to your body.
(It may be helpful to close your eyes as you do the next steps in the exercise.)
3. Observe your physical sensations.
4. Next observe your emotions.
5. Then observe your thoughts. Simply allow your thoughts to pass through your mind as though you are watching clouds in the sky drift past.
6. Now observe yourself observing.

Who is doing the observing? This observer is sometimes referred to as “The Witness.” It is the “I” that is present in all humans. It is the universal “I am.”

The exercise demonstrates that you are able to detach yourself from your surroundings, body, sensations, emotions, thoughts, and ego. This means you are not these. You are not that which you can observe. You are that with which you identify. You are not controlled by that which you are able to observe. What you identify with controls you. If you are able to remain aware of your body, emotions, thoughts, and ego, you can then consciously choose what you shall respond to and how to respond.

This ability to observe is a key skill for fostering your own development. As you uncover aspects of yourself that you may find troubling, remember that if you are able to observe those things within you it indicates that you are not those characteristics. The thoughts or emotions you uncover may be within you, but the fact that you are able to look at them means they are not you. The ability to detach and observe frees you from being controlled by that which you are observing. By separating yourself from that which is being observed, you are in a position to consciously decide whether or not to act on your emotions or thoughts. They no longer control you. You are now in control. This expansion of consciousness is a crucial aspect of your spiritual development. The ultimate goal of personal development is to identify with Spirit--the ground of all being. It is then that we discover who we really are.

To live consciously in any moment, be aware of:
Your feelings
Your thoughts
Your behaviors
Your results
Your feelings are generated by what you think. Your feelings and thoughts generate behaviors. Your behaviors determine your results. Assess your results. If they are satisfactory, continue doing what you have been doing. If you want different results, determine what behaviors will get you the desired results. Then what must you change about how you think in order to generate those new behaviors?

To continue your self-exploration, respond to the following statements:
1. Why I want to be a leader.
2. My strengths as a leader.
3. My weaknesses as a leader.
4. What I want to learn about leading.

In my next entry, I will introduce an important personal development tool—journaling.