Taking the Lead (Women & Leadership) – TPW264

This week we're considering leadership skills and whether we need to wait for someone else to give us a leadership title.



Productive leadership

A conversation in the TPW Facebook community got me thinking about what it takes to lead effectively. I’m not an expert on leadership, but it's an important topic to think about. So, I did some research and wanted to share my thoughts and some of what I found.

What is leadership?

Definition: “The action of leading a group of people or an organization; the state or position of being a leader”

Synonyms:


* guidance, direction, control, management, superintendence, supervision; organization, government.
* directorship, governorship, governance, administration, captaincy, control, ascendancy, supremacy, rule, command, power, dominion, influence.


Theories of leadership (source: Wikipedia)

“In the autocratic/paternalistic strain of thought, traditionalists recall the role of leadership of the Roman pater familias. Feminist thinking, on the other hand, may object to such models as patriarchal and posit against them emotionally attuned, responsive, and consensual empathetic guidance, which is sometimes associated with matriarchies. . . .

Comparable to the Roman tradition, the views of Confucianism on "right living" relate very much to the ideal of the (male) scholar-leader and his benevolent rule, buttressed by a tradition of filial piety.

The difference between being a leader and being a boss or manager

To understand leadership, it's helpful to differentiate between leadership and other “leader-like” roles. Regardless of the title, there are differences between being a boss or a manager and actually being a leader.

Difference between being a leader and a boss

One writer suggests that:


* A boss knows things and imparts them to the employees, while a leader is always learning, including from those she leads;
* Bosses give answers and directions, while leaders seek solutions from all sources
* Bosses talk more than they listen, while leaders listen more than they talk
* Bosses direct, while leaders coach
* Bosses require or demand results, while leaders inspire performance


Difference between being a leader and a manager

According to Forbes:


* “Leaders create vision, managers create goals.”
* “Leaders are change agents, managers maintain the status quo.” (“Managers stick with what works, refining systems, structures and processes to make them better.” While leaders will innovate
* “Leaders are unique, managers copy.”
* “Leaders take risks, managers control risk.”
* “Leaders build relationships, managers build systems and processes."


Can managers be leaders? Of course! These articles are not talking about the title, so much as they are about the reality of role. Whatever your title is, you can act in one of two ways, or at any given time, in a hybrid of the two. When we are at our strongest, we step into that leader role.

Areas where we lead

These differences were mainly discussed in the context of work but they also apply at home and in our other areas of life such as in friendships, in community organizations, and more.