I'm taking my ideas today from the article "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different." This appears in the January Special Issue of the "Harvard Business Review" and begins on page 74. So much for giving credit where it is due.

Characteristics of a Manager:

Managers prefer to work with people; they avoid solitary activity...

Manager populate their stories, about the boy and violin, with people.

Managers maintain a low level of personal involvement with it their work relationships.

Managers may lack empathy or the capacity to sense intuitively the thoughts and feelings of those around him.

Managers relate to people according to the role they play in a sequence of events or in a decision-making process.

Managers concern themselves with how things get done.

Following is the example in HBR of a manager's story:

"Mom and Dad insisted that their son take music lessons so that someday he can become a concert musician. His instrument was ordered and had just arrived. The boy is weighing the alternatives of playing football with the other kids or playing with the squeak box. He can't understand how his parents could think a violin is better than a touchdown.

"After four months of practicing the violin, the boy has had more than enough, Dad is going out of his mind, and Mom is willing to give in reluctantly to their wishes. Football season is now over, but a good third baseman will take the field next spring."

Food for thought. Monday I will explore the characteristics of leaders.......
9:56:32 PM    comment []