For instance the question, "What is the difference
between leadership and management?" runs most managers onto the rocks. They cannot answer and, most revealing,
plainly have not considered the difference.
So they tell their management team to be both... but cannot
define what this expectation means and as a result garner the predictable disappointing results of under-performance.
I define the mastery of a craft as the lifelong pursuit
of proficiency in a chosen profession - the profession in this case being CEO management.
When you take on the management mantle of CEO of a company, you need to
be as trained and as confident as a 747 pilot sitting on the runway preparing
to take off: that is, somebody who knows the ropes and has trained thoroughly
for the job. CEOs often have not had
the hours of training an airline pilot undergoes, nor are forced to learn and
inculcate a philosophy, a structure, a set of principles, processes and disciplines and
then practice them to an exemplary standard with clear accountability for
performance.
But CEOs have the opportunity to choose a management
philosophy, a structure, a set of principles, processes and disciplines and
then practice using them for the rest of their career. Unfortunately, most do not and are not held
accountable by their Board to do so.
Here lies such a great opportunity for performance
improvement. CEOs who adopt a craft,
reflect on it, learn and integrate all the management work of their company
tend to get higher levels of engagement and better results. Without this locked down, they can behave and be perceived as inconsistent, unfair loose cannons.
