If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously (Romans 12:8, NLT).
The title of this Interruption is from a Harvard Business Review article entitled (as mentioned) What Leaders Really Do by John Kotter.
HBR (Harvard Business Review) is a website/magazine in existence for years with thousands of articles on all things related to business. I’ve read John Kotter for years — especially his writings on change.
I’m a leader. I subscribe to HBR. I like reading Kotter. And so I was intrigued by his article, What Leaders Really Do. It’s listed as one of the best articles among thousands in the HBR online library.
The article begins with a stunning assertion about leaders …
They don’t make plans; they don’t solve problems; they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle with it.
I’ve also been watching the most recent season of The Chosen. When you watch Jesus in this series, you will note that His leadership style pretty much matches John Kotter’s description of a leader.
If I could add one line to Kotter’s definition of a leader that would also describe Jesus and most great leaders that I’ve known or read about, it would be …
They don’t make plans; they don’t solve problems; they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle with it. And they upset people!
Needed change is challenging and often abrasive.
In his article about leadership, John Kotter describes the difference between leaders and managers with three statements …
- Planning and budgeting versus setting direction. The aim of management is predictability, while leadership’s function is to produce change.
- Organizing and staffing versus aligning people. Managers look for the right fit between people and jobs. Leaders, however, look for the right fit between people and the vision.
- Controlling activities and solving problems versus motivating and inspiring. Management makes it easy for people to complete routine jobs. However, since high energy is required to overcome change, leaders touch people at their deepest needs.
Though his article in HBR is primarily about leadership and not management, Kotter does say, “Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action.”
In all organizations — businesses, churches, and non-profits — both leadership and management are valuable. However, the two groups can conflict and compete. They have differing orientations to needed growth and change and, not understanding how to function well together, often demoralize each other.
As always, the best leadership advice is found in the Bible, especially when the Apostle Paul writes …
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace (Ephesians 4:2-3, NLT).
Amen! Be a great leader or manager in 2024!