6.  LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, EMPOWERMENT

 Leadership is an activity, not a position. 

        A oil painting is Inactive Art.  The work of a Performer is Active Art.  Leadership is an Interactive Art.  Imagine the Great Masters trying to devise their creations interactively with their peers, competitors, audience, and critics, on a moving canvas with paints that change color.  Such is the role of Leadership.

        Using the roots and definitions of Interactive, Art and Artistry, the following definition describes the activity of Leadership.

        Leadership: Creating the process through which joint efforts, using collective knowledge and proficiency acquired by experience, study and observation, put into effect what has been created in the mind.

        Leaders create the vision and establish the processes that lead others towards its fulfillment.  

        A Manager directs the actions of others toward the vision of the Leadership.  The following definition of Business Management reflects the distinction between Management and Leadership in a Commercial enterprise.

            Business Management: Directing the actions through which joint efforts, using collective knowledge and proficiency acquired by experiences, study and observation, put into effect for commercial purposes, what  has been created in the mind of the leadership.

        A Leader envisions.  A Manager directs value-adding workers to use their skills to create that vision.

        Empowerment is a popular buzz word, but the implementation of empowerment programs has led to widely varying results .  Poorer results occur when the idea becomes a substitute for Leadership or Management, rather than an enhancement.  Without good leadership to create a collective vision and management to guide the evolution of efforts, Empowerment is not only superfluous, but can result in the company dispersing its resources in many directions to the detriment of all. 

        Empowerment:  Enabling the joint efforts of others, using their collective knowledge and proficiency acquired by experience, study and observation, to put into effect for commercial purposes, what has been created in the minds of the leadership.

All three descriptions, well executed, are forms of  Interactive Artistry.  

Reviewing the above descriptions of Leadership, Management and Empowerment makes often ignored truths intuitively obvious.

·      Leaders need a vision and the ability to effectively communicate that vision in order to lead.

·      Management must understand the vision to know what to put into effect.

·      Empowerment requires proficiency, knowledge and direction.

         Strong leadership creates, communicates and builds consensus toward an official vision.  When leadership has one thing in their minds, and the managers or employees have another,  all efforts are compromised.  Without effective leadership, companies will either drift aimlessly or gradually organize themselves into a circular firing squad.  Only when the leader has a clear vision and the ability to communicate it to others is there potential for an effective and competitive organization. 

        For examples of projects in which Richard Johnson played a Leadership role, please click on his name to go to his resume.  For a professional coach to help develop leadership skills, please follow these links to our associates, James Hunt or Dr. Stan Sloan. Use the "Back" key on your computer to return to this page.