ABSTRACT
JOURNAL: Some cynical individual said that leadership is the art of finding out where the people are going and getting out in front. Maybe that person wasn’t a cynic at all Perhaps he just understood the process. I’m coming to realize how out of touch with the organization I am. I don’t think that’s usually a big problem. In this age of specialization I have my job, others have theirs. I’m pretty good at doing the C. E. 0. things, the management end of the business. But moving this company onto a different path requires something else, leadership I guess. But are management skills and leadership skills really different? If so, how? The people who report directly to me don’t seem prepared to provide what’s needed either. They’ve been selected for their managerial skills and they’re good. But doesn’t management include leadership? If I want to change the direction of the organization, then I’m going to have to position myself to provide leadership, whatever I decide that is. As that fellow suggested, somehow I will have to get out in front where they can see me and follow in the directions in which I move. I’ve been standing on a hill waving my arms and shouting, “Over here.” They can’t see me for the dust and can’t hear me for the noise of the battle. Besides, at the moment their first interest 30is in ducking the next arrow to come their way. Not a bad analogy. How do I get them out of the moment-to-moment survival mode and onto the offensive? How do I change the rules of the engagement? I guess my first challenge after all the intellectualizing is to figure out how to get out in front. When I get there, I had better have figured out the difference between management and leadership, if there is any.
