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From: Brierley, Sean [mailto:Sean -at- Quodata -dot- Com]
> > "The true measure of leadership is influence -- nothing more,
>nothing
> > less." -- John Maxwell
>
>Well, that's awfully cute, but for every leader there are ten managers
>pushing his butt out the door. There are a bunch of cute and naive
quotes on
>this subject, I'll not address them all for fear of getting stuck in
the
>goo.
<fe>Gee, Sean, have you seen someone about that hyperactive cynicism
gland?</fe> In my experience, Maxwell hit it on the head. I've had the
opportunity to work with people who had grand titles but no influence
(heck, I've been in that position) and with those who had no title but
plenty of influence. I'll take a fancy title (if the pay reflects it),
but I'd rather have influence. Seldom does a title confer influence.
Note that the quote above says nothing about whether "leadership" is
positive or negative. It can be either. Those who have the influence in
an organization are the leaders, and their influence can be good or bad.
In most organizations, you probably have a mix good and bad leaders,
which is most often a result of the Peter Principle. There are two
things that rise to the top: cream and scum. People at all levels of the
organization need to be aware of this and cultivate the cream, while
being prepared to get rid of the scum whenever it surfaces. The problem
is, this doesn't happen enough. Too many of us act as if leadership is
something that just happens. We don't try to cultivate leadership in
ourselves or in those we work with.
Roy M. Jacobsen
Senior Editor, Documentation
Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions
One Lonetree Road
Fargo, ND 58104-3911
USA
rjacobse -at- microsoft -dot- com
The first step to wisdom is to understand what is false. - Lactantius
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