Are You a Leader/Manager?

About a month ago I came across a great article in Business Week by Henry Mintzberg.

The crux of Mr. Mintzberg’s article was that we have too many business leaders that are detached from the messy process of managing, so they often times don’t know what’s going on.

If the paragraph above describes your district or club leadership style, you could be in for a rough year because ultimately a club’s success is defined by the leader’s ability to engage its members.  The best way to do this is to model the behavior you wish the members to mirror.  To be a truly great club president you need to be willing to be a servant leader,  and doing that requires considering the clubs needs above your own and getting into the detail, the management, of running a successful club.

This year, stay focused on your clubs strategic plan (you have one don’t you?), while staying in the arena with your members and slaying the dragons. 

Mr. Mintzberg ends his article by quoting Stanford University emeritus president, John G. Marsh: “Leadership involves plumbing as well as poetry.” And then Mintzberg states, “Instead of distinguishing leaders from managers, we should encourage all managers to be leaders.  And we should define “leadership” as management practiced well.”

May your year as a club “leader” be filled with few personal management challenges, but when they come, may they be managed well.