What Leaders Really Do
OLR 1 Kotter, J., “What Leaders Really Do,” HBR, 1900
Many people wonder the differences in management and leadership. Kotter (1990) clearly states the differences between management and leadership. He mentions that management is about dealing with complexity, while leadership is about dealing with change. Companies manage complexity in three ways. First, managers plan and budget to achieve their rather short-term goals. These goals are short-term because in the rapidly changing business environment long-term goals may not the very effective. The next stage involves organizing and staffing, a process needed to create the organizational structure of the company to carry out its plans. Finally, managers control and solve problems that occur during the second stage to ensure the completion of the plan. Leadership deals with change in three stages. Leaders begin by setting a direction that develops a vision and strategies for producing the changes that are needed. Then leaders need to align people by communicating the new direction to employees that help create groups of people that are committed to the achievement of the vision. In the final stage, leaders tap into the human needs, values, and emotions of people to keep them motivated and inspired. In result, this leads to the organization moving in the right direction.
According to Kotter, despite the differences, management and leadership are two complementary systems of action that need to be well balanced in a company to thrive in the constantly changing business environment. Companies can achieve this balance by institutionalizing a leadership-centered culture in their organization. This will lead to developing opportunities that challenge leadership skills among employees. There is a good example to Kotter’s suggestion of institutionalizing a leadership centered culture. AmorePacific Corp., a cosmetics company located in South Korea, sends its new sales managers to its
Many people wonder the differences in management and leadership. Kotter (1990) clearly states the differences between management and leadership. He mentions that management is about dealing with complexity, while leadership is about dealing with change. Companies manage complexity in three ways. First, managers plan and budget to achieve their rather short-term goals. These goals are short-term because in the rapidly changing business environment long-term goals may not the very effective. The next stage involves organizing and staffing, a process needed to create the organizational structure of the company to carry out its plans. Finally, managers control and solve problems that occur during the second stage to ensure the completion of the plan. Leadership deals with change in three stages. Leaders begin by setting a direction that develops a vision and strategies for producing the changes that are needed. Then leaders need to align people by communicating the new direction to employees that help create groups of people that are committed to the achievement of the vision. In the final stage, leaders tap into the human needs, values, and emotions of people to keep them motivated and inspired. In result, this leads to the organization moving in the right direction.
According to Kotter, despite the differences, management and leadership are two complementary systems of action that need to be well balanced in a company to thrive in the constantly changing business environment. Companies can achieve this balance by institutionalizing a leadership-centered culture in their organization. This will lead to developing opportunities that challenge leadership skills among employees. There is a good example to Kotter’s suggestion of institutionalizing a leadership centered culture. AmorePacific Corp., a cosmetics company located in South Korea, sends its new sales managers to its
References: Kotter, J. P. (1990) What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review, 1990