Leading the Leaders

Ichak kalderson Adizes

Dr Adizes is one of the leading management experts in the world. He taught at UCLA, Stanford and Columbia Universities. He is a consultant to prime ministers and Fortune 100 companies.

The purpose of management is to see to it that the organization is effective and efficient in the short and long run.

Peter Drucker said “ the top management job in any company requires at least four different kinds of people-the thought man, the action man, the people man, and the front man.” rarely do you find someone who is a good mix of all four.

While we have managers, we also have mismanagers. Mismanagers lack the ability to perform certain types of roles.

One of the mismanagers in a company is the lone ranger – who ends up doing something even if it not the correct thing.

Another mismanager is the bureaucrat- who drives excessive rules and has no concern for business success.

If an organization has too many bureaucrats, then it has no chance of any success.

Good leaders learn to say NO. Saying yes all the time can kill leaders.

Another mismanager is the field rat – so busy doing things that he cannot look up and see the bigger picture. Take time to think.

All the mismanagers abuse time, but do it differently. So, managing time is key to be a good leader.

Focus on who is speaking and why he is saying what he is saying, rather than focus on what is being said.

Sometimes it takes time to get quality, slow down if you want quality in a meeting or a situation.

Telling people what to do does not mean you have a team. You must get people to think for themselves.

A good manager creates an atmosphere where the most desirable thing will possible happen.

Meetings are essential and a good way to get alignment. If you don’t have regular meetings, people will have corridor meetings and the outcome can be disastrous.

Never hire people and promote them despite their bad personality and tantrums. Good leaders call bad behavior

Not everyone who works hard is doing the right thing by the company.

The fact that you don’t know about something doesn’t mean that it wont happen.

Not everything that is broken needs to be fixed. Prioritize the list.

When there is a choice, do the right things first, instead of just doing something.

To have a team, you must let people disagree with each and other and with you.

Set firm, absolute deadlines your yourself and others.

Clarity is achieved through attention to detail.

Ask yourself-what are you really committed to, what’s driving you?

Do not present a problem unless your goal is to arrive at a solution. People who present problems without providing answers are poor team players.

Being the only one to talk in a meeting doesn’t mean the others will listen.

When you disagree, don’t be disagreeable.

Stop worrying about what people will say. They will say something no matter what you do.

Going with the flow does not make you a leader. Good leaders stand up when they see things are wrong.

Because change is constant, the focus of an organization has to be to handle change. Poor managers and leaders keep postponing taking action thinking it is a decision. It is a decision doomed to fail.

When you don’t take action, you will be seen as incompetent.

Agreeing is not enough. It is better to have a mediocre decision implemented than an outstanding decision never implemented.

The fact that people agree does not mean they will implement it. You have to drive that as a leader.

A managers job is not to be popular, he has to be effective.

Not all those who say they support you, actually do.

There is no change without conflict, if you stop conflict, you stop change.