69
Jill Abramson was the first woman
to become executive editor of The New
York T i mes. She found that unpopularity
came “with the territory,” as Times’
chairman Arthur Sulzberger had warned.See also: The value of teams 70–71 ■ Gods of management 76–77 ■ Effective leadership 78–79 ■ Organizing teams and
talent 80–85 ■ Develop emotional intelligence 110–11 ■ Mintzberg’s management roles 112–13
LIGHTING THE FIRE
budgeting, structure, and staffing;
tasks that help an organization to
keep doing what it does. Without
management, no matter how well
led, an organization would
disintegrate into disorganized
chaos. However, management
is not leadership—it will not lead
the company in new directions.
Decisive leadership
In 1990, John Kotter argued that
leadership is about dealing with
change and developing a vision
for the organization, often within
turbulent times. Leaders then
communicate their vision to the
rest of the company, and motivate
staff—especially managers—to
act in ways that will bring about
the required change. Leadership
is about setting the agenda and
empowering people to produce
useful change.
“Leading well” does not always
mean making people happy;
likability and success rarely go
together. The direct, tough, and
sometimes even rude leadership
styles of some of the most highly
regarded leaders—such as Jack
Welch of General Electric, Steve
Jobs of Apple, and Jill Abramson
of The New York Times—have
been well documented.
Leaders have to be brave in
the face of uncertainty, standing
firmly behind their vision for the
company. They need to hold staff
accountable when things do not
go as planned, and make difficult
decisions about who to hire or
fire in order to develop an
organizational culture capable
of achieving their strategic vision.The next generation
Truly great leaders know that they
will not be around forever, and one of
their most important tasks is to hire,
train, and nurture their successor.
They lead well by making sure
somebody is ready and waiting to
take over from them. Nine years
before his retirement, General
Electric CEO Jack Welch said, “from
now on, choosing my successor is
the most important decision I’ll
make. It occupies a considerable
amount of thought almost every day.”It is common practice in many
companies to privilege leadership
over management, but it is unwise.
Great organizations value both:
leaders who can spot opportunities,
and managers who can make those
opportunities a reality. ■Leadership is lifting a person’s
vision to high sights, raising
their performance to a higher
standard, building a personality
beyond its normal limitations.
Peter Drucker
US management consultant
(1909 –2005)
Blending leadership and management
Inspirational leadership skills
are the hallmark of Portuguese
soccer coach José Mourinho.
His teams won two European
Cups and 14 trophies in eight
years, elevating him to sit
alongside some of the greats
of soccer management.
Successful sports teams,
like great organizations, are
a blend of good management
and good leadership, and
Mourinho achieves the rare
feat of excelling in both. As
a leader, he makes his markimmediately. When he first took
over Chelsea Football Club in
London, England, he called a
team meeting and urged any
naysayers to speak up, or stay
silent from then on. He learned
his management skills from
Bobby Robson and Louis van
Gaal, for whom he worked as
an assistant coach and translator
at the Spanish soccer team FC
Barcelona. Under their guidance
he also learned how to study
opponents, form strategies, and
build strong, winning teams.