Improve Yourself 7: Managing Differs from Leading

This continues our series on improving yourself to get the biggest raises & best promotions

Mitchell managed operations very well. He proved his management skills repeatedly in different operations throughout the global corporation that employed him. As a result, he rose within the organization to upper management. Unfortunately, his last promotion placed him in an executive position requiring leadership skills he did not possess. He failed to establish or maintain a vision for the division he led. He also could not inspire greater performance from his operations. He was a good manager who could not lead.

Dr. Timothy R. Clark Lessons on Leadership

I recently heard Dr. Timothy R. Clark discuss leadership. I had heard him previously shortly after he published The Leadership Test. I blogged about him at that time. His presentation inspired me to blog about him again. I will spend the next three posts sharing the ideas he presented. As always, I encourage you to read and study his books, column, and attend one of his presentations.

First, let me introduce Dr. Clark. His biography for a column he writes for the Deseret News states:

“Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., is an author, international management consultant, former two-time CEO, Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University and Academic all-American football player at BYU. His latest two books are "The Leadership Test" and "Epic Change." E-mail: trclark@trclarkpartners.com”

Difference Between Management & Leadership

Dr. Clark shared insight about leadership. I share one today, and encourage you to read his column on this subject titled Leadership is Greater than Management. He teaches one difference between the two:

“Leaders are paid to maintain competitive advantage. It’s their job to hold court with the status quo and overthrow it when necessary. Managers preserve. Leaders disturb. Managers follow the script. Leaders write the script. Managers deal with facts. Leaders deal with possibilities. Managers create value today. Leaders create value tomorrow. Managers can run things on the compliance of other people. Leaders can only run things on the commitment of other people. If not, they cease to lead.”

Wednesday we review Timothy Clark’s observation about learning leadership 

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