Leaders Instead of Managers ....

Many years ago I was in a leadership development class that my company, at the time, used to send their managers to.  One of the themes of this particular class was examining and understanding the differences between a leader and a manager. 

This particular theme caught my attention because up to that point I had always thought of managers as inherently being leaders.  This class totally destroyed that notion. 

The instructor gave a whole series of examples of how the two differ.  Here are a few from the class:

Leadership is about strategy.  Management is about tactics.

There is profound difference — a chasm — between leaders and managers. A good manager does things right. A leader does the right things. Doing the right things implies a goal, a direction, an objective, a vision, a dream, a path, a reach.

Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust — about people.

Most losing organizations are over-managed and under-led. Their managers accomplish the wrong things beautifully and efficiently. They climb the wrong wall.

In about a month, the residents in Peachtree Corners will be choosing their first city council.  This particular city council will have the critical challenge of making sure the city is put on the right path.  Choosing the right people to do this is just as critical.

Any successful organization needs attention to detail – ‘I’s dotted, ‘T’s crossed, etc.  I work in the world of finance where I have responsibility for budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars so I know all about digging into details.  However, without a vision, without a plan, it does not matter how much wonkish detail a person knows.  As one of the takeaways from the class pointed out, managers can be great at what they do, but if they are being great but going in the wrong direction what does it matter.

One of the main reasons people voted ‘Yes’ on November 8th is because they wanted to control their destiny.  They wanted to choose the direction our community went in.  We will need LEADERS who have a vision, leaders who can lay out that path toward the future. 

The Council will hire a City MANAGER who will implement that strategy.  He or she will be paid to understand all the intricate details of zoning, code, trash, just like we will have a city attorney on retainer to understand legal ramifications of potential decisions.  This is no different than a successful company.  The CEO hires experts to know the details of issues while he or she sets the direction.  A CEO cannot successfully set a vision if he or she is bogged down 24/7 putting out fires, bogged down in the weeds on an issue that one of his or her managers should be handling.

I have a vision for where I think Peachtree Corners should be in 20 years.  This vision is based on the wealth creating power of the free market, creating a Peachtree Corners brand we can market to attract that powerful free market and having a government that is focused on simply creating the environment to attract that wealth creating free market to our area. 

The free market can create the redevelopment and change that will ultimately result in lower crime, better schools and higher home values.  Government can help create the environment for the free market to succeed, but the government alone cannot create the future we want for our area. 

As I mentioned before, I am a finance guy and I can get into details with the best of them.  But I am not running for City Council to be the city finance guy who knows every budget line by memory.  We will have a City Manager to do that.  I am running for City Council to help create a vision for where we want this city to go in the future.  Leadership with a vision is the key to our city’s future greatness.

You can learn more about me and my campaign at www.wright4pccouncil.com.

I hope you will consider me for your District 3 City Councilman on March 6th.