The focus of a manager is to control – because he/she is at the top of the hierarchy; the focus of a leader is to inspire – because he/she has established a road map: where they are and where they want to be, how they will get there, and who will do what, when, where and how! And a leader-manager focuses like a laser at moving forward – exuding strength, character and confidence that rub off on the team.
It appears the new Aquino Administration is on the right track; but there will always be bigger challenges to face. Fortunately, or the reality is, the bigger the challenge the bigger the opportunity – so long as they’re focused . . . committed to their goal . . . and able to inspire . . . the team and Juan de la Cruz . . . and as importantly, keep the faith?
Planning, organizing and controlling are straightforward, but what about leadership, she asked – one of the smartest businesspersons the writer knows! It dawned on him that just like in the Philippines in Eastern Europe they’d talk about their managers.
The young Eastern European (born under communist rule in a small, poor country) who asked the question does business (not simply exporting but competing) on the ground in over 20 countries – a feat achieved in 7 years . . . while we’re on our endless debates about the value of the global market! She’s the age of writer’s daughter, speaks better English than him, spent a year of high school in Atlanta (USA) and earned a PhD in Economics attending a UK university. She has become a family friend. She was preparing for her team’s planning session and wanted to ensure and confirmation from the writer that she covered leadership.
In 7 years she evolved from individual contributor to leader (and the anointed deputy of the writer’s Eastern European friend) but admits her leadership is still a work in progress – given her very high standards. Clearly she can direct her people. But the writer has to illustrate that directing an activity piecemeal is not leadership especially when goals, timelines, resources and measures of success are not clear – and not bought into by the team. The key is to inspire them, but to be mindful of inefficiencies – which she recently realized. Thus she has been vigorously working on her leadership.
She very recently sent out an email: ‘2010 is so far a very good year for the SBU with turnover up X% for the first 6 months vs. last year. Furthermore, the SBU is delivering the most or Y% of total company profits. Yet we are using only a fraction of the consumer marketing budget. This is quite low by industry standards and also lower than the other SBUs’. We may be MISSING the opportunity to grow our strategic brands and markets in the long run. So, for SELECTED brands in SELECTED countries it might be wiser to invest more than currently planned for a better second half but also to invest for a more profitable future . . . I would like to ask you to support the SBU’s efforts in this direction. Even if we together decide that we will not spend more than we have currently planned for we will at least make sure that there are no opportunities we are missing.’
What a great leadership piece from one who’s working on her leadership – but has internalized the power of investment! She can inspire, focus her team and the bigger organization to beat competition, including global behemoths – and why some of them are now working for her!
Competitive Advantage is being dogged to meet very high self-imposed standards . . . instead of blaming the world for her shortcomings? She isn’t perfect – but is focused on the vital few and on moving forward. She is dynamic . . . and it puts her on the higher plane of ‘continuous improvement’!
No comments:
Post a Comment