Karley and Jake Owen

Leadership (vs Management) Part 1

Leading and managing are not necessarily synonyms. Some leaders can manage, but the converse is not as common. This is part 1 of a series on leading and managing.
This is a set of competencies identified by Boyatzis (1982). through critical incident research.

Efficiency orientation

Focusing on objectives, tasks and achievements. Setting challenging goals and supporting appropriate planning. Facilitating overcoming of obstacles. Encouraging people to act in this way.

Concern with impact

Demonstrating a significant interest in power and its symbols. Use of power-oriented behavior such as using various methods of influence, seeking positions of power, etc.

Proactivity

Showing a strong belief in individual self-control and self-driven action. Acting without waiting for full agreement or authorization. Taking responsibility for actions. Acting to dissuade defensive and risk-averse behavior. 

Self-confidence

Showing belief in self, values and ideas. Able to talk decisively and take confident and decisive action. Communicating this self-confidence to others and hence instilling confidence in them.

Oral presentation skill

Able to speak well, using effective language, modes of speech and body language. Uses effective symbolism and metaphor in words and actions. Appropriate use of visual aids.

Conceptualization

Uses inductive reasoning to identify patterns and relationships. Able to create models and symbols to communicate these concepts. Uses synthetic and creative thinking to develop further ideas and solutions.

Diagnostic use of concepts

Able to use deductive reasoning to convert models and ideas into specific instances and possibilities. Concepts are turned into practical and useful tools.

Use of socialized power

Developing networks and hierarchies of people and mobilizing them to to achieve specific ends. Acts as a person in the middle to resolve conflicts and bring people together. 

Managing group processes

Building the identity of groups and people in them. Building common goals and objectives. Developing group roles. Creating ways of working together and facilitating teamwork.




Historia est vitae magistra 
History is the tutor of life

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Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The Competent Manager, NY: Wiley

Thinking About What Is Not There (Creativity 101)

Think about what you are thinking about, and then think about what you are not thinking about.

When you are looking at something (or otherwise sensing), notice what is not there.

Watch people and notice what they do not do.

Make lists of things to remember that you normally forget.

In other words, deliberately and carefully think about what is not there.

 

An artist draws the spaces between things.

A market manager for a furniture wonders about product areas where customers have made no comment. She watches them using tables and notes that they leave the tables out when not using them. She invents a table that can be easily be folded and stored.

The psychology of thought is such that we are very good at seeing what is there, but not at all good at seeing what is not there. Thinking about what is not there compensates for this by deliberately forcing us to do what we do not naturally do.

 Ab amicis honesta petamus
"One should only ask from a friend what he is capable of." 

*T