The core element of organizational leadership is vision. All other leadership characteristics derive from this – in fact, organizations derive from this.
The difference between large corporations and small businesses is that managers run the former, and visionary entrepreneurs tend to run the latter. The one gets in trouble when he or she tries to assume the characteristics of the other. That is, a small business entrepreneur whose vision leads to a growing enterprise may confuse the brilliance of the vision with managerial skill. Many a bright idea can survive bad management up to a certain level of growth.
On the other hand, many of the corporate scandals of recent years have their origin in senior managers improperly arrogating to themselves owner- or enterpreneurial-level vision. That is not theirs – it is the owners’; typically, in the case of a corporation, expressed through a board.
Confusion in this area leads to the unravelling of fiduciary clarity that is damaging for both small and large businesses. Which brings us to a core quality of real-life organizational leadership: discipline. More specifically, self-discipline and the strength of character to do what you’re good at and leave the rest to others.
In fact, other than an inspirational vision leading to organizational creation, leadership itself is best expressed from within the organization – and managed by its senior executives. Management can be learned, and so can the management of organizational leadership. As for the latter, it arises naturally within organizations and is expressed by their members (not exclusively by their senior executives). Understanding this feature of organizations is an especially powerful leveraging force for the small business manager.
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2 Comments
Wonderful post. I especially liked this part: “The difference between large corporations and small businesses is that managers run the former, and visionary entrepreneurs tend to run the latter. The one gets in trouble when he or she tries to assume the characteristics of the other.”
Wally,
The point you singled out does seem to be to be at the heart of a lot of problems suffered by businesses of both types, as well as those transitioning between the two.
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