Galt's Gulch

Being a leader

Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago to Culture
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This was just sent to me and wanted to share it.

We can learn a lot from creatures in the wild.
SOURCE URL: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6526258464069603328/

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  • Posted by mshupe 5 years, 7 months ago
    This is what entrepreneurs do, a term invented by the classical French economist Jean-Baptiste Say. They anticipate the needs and desires of their society, they take risk, produce more, better, and cheaper. The create markets, consumers, and wealth. For the lead wolves, its instinct. For humans, its reason.
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    • Posted by $ Commander 5 years, 7 months ago
      This is what Robert Greenleaf entitled: Servant Leadership
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      • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
        Servant leadership?

        What do you mean by that?
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        • Posted by mshupe 5 years, 7 months ago
          To me, servant leadership is a concept that embodies "duty." Ostensibly, it means that effective leaders embody selfless service. There's books on it, and I believe it glorifies collectivism.
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          • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
            Here is a definition I found:

            "Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which an individual interacts with others – either in a management or fellow employee capacity – with the aim of achieving authority rather than power. The authority figure intends to promote the well-being of those around him or her."

            Well, by this description, Hussein was a "servant leader", being a community organizer. He made a disastrous president.
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          • Posted by $ 25n56il4 5 years, 7 months ago
            In all my years of service, I have never applied the word 'servant' to myself. I dislike this reference. it strikes me as demeaning and insincere! We have an 18 year old running for City Council and he 'wants to help the city grow'. Problem: We don't have the room, infrastructure, or money. He doesn't know that.
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  • Posted by mminnick 5 years, 7 months ago
    Leader Lead. That is what they do by instinct. Managers manage/ That is an acquired skill. Leadership can be cultivated but you either have it or you don't. Creatures in the wild recognize leaaders, civilized people ofter ignore them or "kill" them by constant ad hominin attack.

    Good post. Thank yhoever sent it to you.
    +1
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    • Posted by $ blarman 5 years, 7 months ago
      Agreed. Managers are people engineers - they try to fit the appropriate people into the tasks needing completion. Leaders have a vision of what needs to be done and good leaders are effective about communicating those ideals to others.

      Both management and leadership are valuable and necessary within an organization. Some amount of both can be taught, but the best of each are innately talented. And a very few can do both. Those individuals are rare indeed.
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      • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
        This reminds me of Steve Jobs:

        "It does not make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; hire smart people and let them tell you what to do."
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        • Posted by $ blarman 5 years, 7 months ago
          Steve Jobs was one of those rare leader+manager types. I'm sure everyone could add one. I'd start with Lee Iacocca.
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          • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
            Yes, he was revolutionary.

            Regarding Jobs, now he is remembered with great respect. But I read his bio, and followed many accounts on his leadership. He was controversial and was accused of micromanagement.
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    • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
      Precisely.

      It is an ominous fact how often true leaders are tripped up, ignored or outright attacked for their abilities to give room for faux characters who know how to manipulate people.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 5 years, 7 months ago
    With respect to wolves, it is also true that the oldest members of the pack are the ones who have been over this route the most times and know it - and alternative routes - better than anyone in the pack. They know the old and traditional routes - and as long as those routes work, they are the best pathfinders.

    I do not think that the leader always belongs in the rear, though the rest of the structure makes sense. It also must be taken into consideration that the purpose of that lineal organization is narrow: to protect the pack and get from one place to another; maybe to hunt on the way (I do not know enough about wolves to know if they hunt whilst they travel or if they wait until they establish their next base camp before hunting).

    The leader sometimes has to get up front and lead. Because he is leader, the pack will follow him.

    Also: my experience is the opposite of the Steve Jobs quote. Were I to make that quote accurate, I would have to add words. Jan's version: It does not make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; hire Motivated, Perceptive and Wise smart people and let them tell you what Their Ideas Are to do. Then, using the greater vision that being the boss gives you, decide if their ideas are right or if they are too limited.

    Oh yeah, if you do not find the magical 'motivated, perceptive, and wise smart people' then you have to make do with what you have and use ingenuity to compensate for missing attributes.

    Jan
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    • Posted by exceller 5 years, 7 months ago
      Obviously the image presented above should be interpreted symbolically rather than literally.

      Of course the leader gets to the front, more often than not. But his role, as characterized by CircuitGuy above is more of a vision and establishing conditions in which people are able to perform to the best of their abilities.
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  • Posted by dukem 5 years, 7 months ago
    This is one of the most interesting explanations of the concept of leadership that I have seen. I know because all of my past mistakes are buried in the text as situations to handle differently. Bravo!
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