Comments on: Showing leadership http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/10/21/showing-leadership/ The strategic role of the senior executive Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:35:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jim Stroup http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/10/21/showing-leadership/comment-page-1/#comment-7948 Jim Stroup Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:48:24 +0000 http://managingleadership.com/blog/?p=1078#comment-7948 Such individuals as you describe make up an "unofficial chain of command" that can be more influential in important ways than the official one - it is one of the organizational phenomena that managers should be aware of and should manage. You touched on this once before when noting that in order to understand an outfit's culture you observe who is instinctively glanced at during a meeting when a decision is called for. People like Art Jones combine ability and character as colleagues in a way that makes them much more meaningful and influential leaders in our personal and professional lives, I think, than the contrived and self-referential constructs of individual leadership promoted by the modern leadership movement. Thanks, as always Wally, for a powerful observation. Such individuals as you describe make up an “unofficial chain of command” that can be more influential in important ways than the official one – it is one of the organizational phenomena that managers should be aware of and should manage. You touched on this once before when noting that in order to understand an outfit’s culture you observe who is instinctively glanced at during a meeting when a decision is called for.

People like Art Jones combine ability and character as colleagues in a way that makes them much more meaningful and influential leaders in our personal and professional lives, I think, than the contrived and self-referential constructs of individual leadership promoted by the modern leadership movement.

Thanks, as always Wally, for a powerful observation.

]]> By: Wally Bock http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/10/21/showing-leadership/comment-page-1/#comment-7947 Wally Bock Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:40:26 +0000 http://managingleadership.com/blog/?p=1078#comment-7947 In most organizations I've encountered thee were individuals who were "leaders without position." Others listened to them. They influenced the actions of others and, sometimes, the course of the organization. In some, rare cases that influence extended beyond their actual presence. Art Jones was the best police sergeant I ever spent time with or even heard of. He retired from the San Leandro Police Department, but that was not the end of his influence. For years afterward, people would ask "What would Art think?" as a way to test any ideas. In most organizations I’ve encountered thee were individuals who were “leaders without position.” Others listened to them. They influenced the actions of others and, sometimes, the course of the organization. In some, rare cases that influence extended beyond their actual presence.

Art Jones was the best police sergeant I ever spent time with or even heard of. He retired from the San Leandro Police Department, but that was not the end of his influence. For years afterward, people would ask “What would Art think?” as a way to test any ideas.

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