Sunday, August 19, 2007

Leadership's New Rules

In a complex world, a person who is able to simplify and define with succinct principles and rules, provides a valuable service to other students of the genre. This is true in information technology or the study of leadership.

My study of leadership lead me to the
Practice of Leadership Blog where blogger George Ambler provides three new rules for leadership and provides contrast to the old rules. Here is a summary of Leadership's new rules.

Under the rules a leader must:

Old Rule #1: Know and to serve as a final authority in important decisions.
New Rule #1: Find ways to uncover and connect the collective wisdom of our people. Link the collective skills of a team.

Old Rule #2: Control-information, people, risk, the future.
New Rule #2: Ask questions and facilitate conversations. Align and focus the energy of the team.

Old Rule #3: Drive and monitor organization performance. Punish mistakes.
New Rule #3: Sustain high performance by noticing and appreciating when people do things right-especially. Reinforce courage and right-minded action. Support risk taking.


This comparison of old to new provided new insight in the challenge of quiet leadership.

Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly.

Don

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