To continue the discussion on John P. Kotter’s article “What Leaders Really Do”, I did some searches for other pieces of work that touched on the same topic. From reading the discussions posted on sakai, it seems evident that the majority of people agree with Kotter, that management and leadership are different but complementary. I thought Kotter’s article was extremely interesting and I agreed with almost everything he said, except for something he stated in his first paragraph. Kotter states that “Leadership isn’t mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having “charisma” or other exotic personality traits” (p.85). I know Kotter is discussing ‘leadership’ here and not ‘leaders’, but in any leadership course I have taken in the military, charisma was always discussed as a personality trait that strong leaders possessed. I acknowledge the fact that Kotter ‘s point is that leadership goes beyond charisma, but I do think a leader needs a certain amount of charisma (or other exotic personality traits) in order to align people.
The Harvard Business School Bulletin for February 2011 had a piece on “What Makes a Good Leader”, and there is an informative section on ‘Communication is Key’. Nitin Nohria, a Harvard Business School professor states that “Communication is the real work of leadership”, and Nohria also notes that great leaders spend the bulk of their time communicating. I know I discussed on my sakai post that I wasn’t convinced that the military embraced the difference between management and leadership. I am convinced that the military does a very good job of developing communication skills for those people in leadership roles. The Harvard Business School Bulletin explains that knowing your audience is essential when communicating, and it was actually John Kotter who said “Great communicators have an appreciation for positioning. They understand the people they’re trying to reach and what they can and can’t hear. They send their message in through an open door rather than trying to push it through a wall”. The hierarchy of the military allows for the development of communication skills. People in leadership roles may have to brief up the chain of command one day, and convey the same message to their personnel the next day. How a message is delivered to the different levels of the chain of command is a talent that the military develops, and aids in the improving the leadership skills of the individuals.
I have attached the website for the Harvard Business School Bulletin, and a second website that discusses the difference between management and leadership. I have posted a chart from the second website that outlines some of the key differences between management and leadership.
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