Leadership Anyone?

Abstract

Managers sometimes say,“I’m not the leader — the guy at the top is.” Such managers make a serious mistake. They fail to see that organizations need people at all levels with leadership abilities — so much so that managers whose skills lie in following directives and sticking with established techniques will increasingly find their career futures bleak. The cliches are true: business today simply isn’t what it used to be, and changes escalate quickly; economic conditions and markets shift with astonishing speed. And more important still, the organizational map has been transformed. Managers are no longer responsible only to their bosses and, ultimately, the stockholders. Today a range of groups is part of every business’s natural constituency, each making demands on managers that must be met. Employee groups demand that managers improve the quality of worklife; consumers and community groups demand safer products and a cleaner environment; government agencies require managers to fill hiring quotas. Managers must meet all these demands, and more. And, of course, they still must protect profits.