No-one Wants a Nice Leader

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  michael.millslagel@...04/24/08 Report as spam
  1

  Maybe

  It depends on the book you read. "Good to great" presents evidence that businesses do not survive a charismatic leader after they leave i.e. Lee Iacocca. Chrysler died when he retired.
  
  Next, why is your process driving strategy? That seems counter intuitive. Shouldn't strategy drive your process? What happens if you have bad processes, would that lead to bad strategy?
  
  Success as a boss comes down to ability to executive.
  
  Or maybe I have completely missed the boat and have no idea what I am talking about.

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  michael.millslagel@...04/24/08 Report as spam
  2

  Maybe

  It depends on the book you read. "Good to great" presents evidence that businesses do not survive a charismatic leader after they leave i.e. Lee Iacocca. Chrysler died when he retired.
  
  Next, why is your process driving strategy? That seems counter intuitive. Shouldn't strategy drive your process? What happens if you have bad processes, would that lead to bad strategy?
  
  Success as a boss comes down to ability to execute.
  
  Or maybe I have completely missed the boat and have no idea what I am talking about.

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  Ian P04/25/08 Report as spam
  3

  success as a boss comes down to ability to execute

  Taken out of context that's an excellent quote.
  Who needs staff anyway.

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  M. Bison04/24/08 Report as spam
  4

  RE: No-one Wants a Nice Leader

  The article is true. I don't want a nice leader, I want someone who is able to inspire others, who's strong on his or her own two feet, and who makes focused decisions with strong follow-through -- even if the decision turns out to be a mistake. I want a leader who leads from the front, not from the back. There's a level of ferocity and confidence required there.
  
  However, I also want a leader who respects his or her people, who does not allow ego to give rise to politics, silos, and bitterness. Hence there's a balancing act required in how to inspire others and establish direction without suppressing the creativity and personalities that make teamwork so useful and synergistic.
  
  A model leader for me isn't necessarily one that is nice or aggressive, but one that enables me to become a leader in my own right, in my own position, while letting me align my values, both personal and professional, with those of the team's.

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  guy196004/24/08 Report as spam
  5

  RE: No-one Wants a Nice Leader

  I don't agrre at all.
  Read:"Good to great", by Jim Collins.
  According to his research, the best managed companies among american public companies, were managed by self-efacing managers.

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  tee kayee04/25/08 Report as spam
  6

  RE: No-one Wants a Nice Leader

  Leaders who are softy or nice tend to be employee heroes but suffer from making the million dollar decision. Being relationship oriented does not necessary mean being nice to your subordinates.

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  lsallen204/25/08 Report as spam
  7

  RE: No-one Wants a Nice Leader

  I think you are confusing cultural bias and what the writer likes in a leader with what "works" as a leader. There are several problems with this:
  
  1. Who says that there is one way to be successful as a leader? the fact that people differ from one another implies that different people can be organized, coordinated and motivated in different ways. This means that success depends on a match between the leadership style and the factors that count with a given individual, team, and/or organization.
  
  2. Who says that "nice" leaders cannot make decisions? I sense a strong influence of stereotypes and unquestioned assumptions in this line of thinking.
  
  3. "...our business heroes are not low-key managerial types but brassy bosses, many of whom we only know about thanks to TV" Who is "Our"? I don't remember being asked. and I don't watch TV.
  
  4. "Leaders need to be ???organisational architects??? who translate the business processes into strategy.": Actually they translate strategy into business processes.

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  bnetpro04/26/08 Report as spam
  8

  RE: No-one Wants a Nice Leader

  Leadership has to do with having a vision and the ability to carry people along to pull through the vision.
  
  It's unthinkable how a leader can succeed without the ability to "manage people", which invariably involves getting them to think and act the leader's way. Put more succintly a leader needs a great deal of charisma (being likable) to succeed. Unless we are confusing the word "dictatorship" and "authoritarianism" with the "leadership".