MMEPC

I recommend you to read an article from the Mc Kinsey Quarterly which retained my best attention. The article was very timely for me as I was reading the chapter relating to leadership style in ‘Pour quoi j’echoue en Management’ of Maurice Thevenet. The five dimensions of leadership explained in the article provided a visual summary for me.

‘Meaning, Managing energy, Engagement, Positive framing and Connecting’ are the five aspects that the leader of an organisation should look at continuously.

The four perquisites, i.e. Intelligence, tolerance for change, desire to lead, communications skills are required to have an effective impact on the organisation. Presence, belonging and resilience are the engines of the leadership.

I have my day today, ‘Maha Shivaratee’ holy day, with the reading of both this article and Maurice Thevenet books.

3 comments ↓

#1 joseph on 02.23.09 at 9:31 am

Meaning

Why is meaning important for leaders? Studies have shown that among professionals, it translates into greater job satisfaction, higher productivity, lower turnover, and increased loyalty.1 The benefits also include feelings of transcendence—in other words, contributing to something bigger than yourself generates a deeper sense of meaning, thereby creating a virtuous cycle. Finding meaning in life helped some of the women leaders we interviewed take new paths and accept the personal risks implicit in their goals.

#2 Theo on 02.23.09 at 5:55 pm

Both are indeed very interesting.
However I would like to point out that Leaders and managers are not to be confused with one another.

Leaders develop visions and strategies to get there. Managers manage the processes and monitor the progress.

As a Leaders develops the Vision, automatically he develops purpose (Meaning) to the work he needs to accomplish in order to realise it.
Communicating it to others successfully is called Motivation.
When they succeed in readjusting their goals to those of the organisation, that called Empowerment.

There are many leadership styles and many management styles… nothing new here, it all depends on which one you happen to need at the moment.
What you are addressing here is only one aspect, that of Communication. While important, neither a Leader nor a Manager can communicate anything successfully he doesn’t believe in.
On the other hand, if meaning is communicated well it can lead into Empowerment.

the 20/80 rule applies here too: if 20 % of people are leaders, then the rest have the need to follow; they have the need for someone to give them a meaningful reason to go and spend time at work. with the right skill a leader can do that. After all most people can be brainwashed into believing almost anything! Wasn’t that the subject of your other blog entry… the one about Marketing and Neuroscience and Psychology and Sociology and Behavioral Science all wrapped in Buyology!

#3 joseph on 02.23.09 at 6:36 pm

Many thanks for your comments.Thevenet discusses well the role of the Leader( le chef) and the manager (gestionnaire).

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