Teams Leaders what are they, and do we need them? - Extension from Re: [xpAdopti

I once took a management class at 3M in which leadership was taught 
through a very interesting case study technique.  We were given a 
true story which got to a certain point, and then asked to choose a 
course of action.  Depending on which course we choose, we'd get in 
a group with other managers who had made the same decision and 
then `defend' our decision to the class.  Then the case study 
continued, and we would see which group had made the `right' 
decision according to the case study.  The case study ended up with 
the successful introduction of Post-it notes, but you had to make 
all the right choices to get the right leadership in place so that 
it could happen. 
About half of the class always ended up on `my' side, and the other 
half always ended up on the other side.  Our side always made 
the `right' choice according to the case study. Half of the class 
was upset by this, the rest of us learned how we were expected to 
manage.  I don't think that many minds were changed, but those of us 
who tended toward encouragement, delegation, and risk taking learned 
that these were expected corporate behaviors.  
What I took away from that class is that about half of the managers 
at my company could be trusted to act as leaders, and half as 
managers – a ratio validated over my years at the company.  In my 
experience, it didn't matter if you were in IT or other areas, the 
ratio held.  In other companies, I have found the ratio of leaders 
to managers to be lower, which I attribute to a culture which does 
not teach people how to lead or reward them for doing so.
  
Mary Poppendieck

--- In [email protected], "Dale H. Emery" <dale@d...> wrote:
> Hi Steve,
> 
>  > Is it really that rare for a manager to also be a leader
> 
> More than half of my managers (and higher-ups with whom I had 
> regular contact) have been leaders.  There were a one or two of 
> those that /I/ didn't want to follow, but they did have a 
> definite following.
> 
> And fewer than half of the non-leader managers were good 
> managers.  The rest seemed primarily concerned with the illusion 
> of progress.
> 
> Dale
> 
> -- 
> E-mail: dale@d...
> Web:    http://www.dhemery.com


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