Monday, December 20, 2010

When there are too many leaders

I am a old author of Management through Blogs.

When people used to talk about change as a management fad, I proposed that only positive change should happen and working practices should not be abandoned.

Today I have another proposition. Too much emphasis is given on leadership development at all levels. But one must be cautious not to allow this to become a leader managers situation. A leader manager situation is when all the leaders join the managers and no body is left to manage or work.

Such situation is likely to happen in government office when they adopt new management principles. Similar trends are sen when succession planning is being done and more than two to four candidates are being trained for the top post and the disgruntled leave the organisation along with their team. There should be a management strategy for such a situation and the problem could be viewed as a challenge, by setting up new small sunrise sector small companies with ESOPs for the rejected candidates. Or as a measure of corporate CSR they should be allowed to set up their own companies with angel funding and stake by their owners.

All management terms and axioms are fads till practiced and understood insight fully. Just like all problems are essentially challenges for those who have the grit. So India's and US's large swathes of Unemployed could also be a advantage, are you the leader who can make it?

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

How a Failure in Exam could be a Winner in Life : By Indian Jack Welch

Well when I was at AU college of Engineering. I could not topped. Those who topped copied in all exams and were successful earlier in life.

But I got success later on in life as a successful social blogger and a clear conscience.

How a person who fails the Exam with out writing a single word is a winner in life. If the student refuses to copy he is likely to have the quality of integrity which even big Industry Tycoons lack. So this person can be a cashier at a hotel, as he is unlikely to steal. An accountant who cleared his exam cheating is likely to become a partner at a big firm which fudges and commits fiduciary crimes.

So integrity matters and is found in few. These few are the diamonds in the genetic junk of deceptive people who are sporadically spreading like epidemic in society.

My Leadership Lessons

It was when I used to teach at a School. There was a paucity of Text Books of the subject I used to teach. One girl lent me a book of hers which was used throughout the academic session by me. The girl coped well and was a fine grader. After reflecting on the incident I realized that she was also a good leader even while at school. She had shown the quality of making a sacrifice for making the goal of the group.

How often do we see even matured people making a sacrifice for the group. A true leader. I was also reading an article in newspaper on how a woman fired herself being the CEO to keep her team mates in job. That is the crescendo of leadership. Sacrifice.

Most people are self centered and selfish and hardly understand the group goals. In this scenario the above two examples stand out in explaining leaders how they can be better at their jobs and even managers can develop some accommodating behavior and learn leadership.