“Leadership without Ego” gems — Week I

Dec 21, 2018

Here are the first five little exceprts from Leadership without Ego by B. Davids, B. Carney & I. Getz (Palgrave MacMillan) in print Jan 2019.

“The biggest shortage in the world is not oil or food—it’s leadership without ego.”

“A superior skill-set makes you better in that discipline. It doesn’t make you any better as a human being, superior to others. The more unique your skill set, the more subordinate you must become. Don’t let your ego grow on account of your superior skills.”

“Leadership is not authority. You can be the owner, chairman, or even CEO and not be a leader. Conversely, a supervisor or foreman can be a leader. It’s not authority that makes a leader, it’s whether people want to follow.”

“Management is controlling the things you can. There are only three things that you can control in business: time, money, and quality. Note that there is no mention of people. You can’t control people, you can only lead.”

“Decisions need to be pushed down to lowest level possible. A poorly led company allows decisions to go up to the next management level. Eventually, the CEO winds up swamped and ineffective.”

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2 responses to ““Leadership without Ego” gems — Week I”

Marie-Eve Brault

11 January 2019

Leadership is not authority. You can be the owner, chairman, or even CEO and not be a leader. Conversely, a supervisor or foreman can be a leader. It’s not authority that makes a leader, it’s whether people want to follow.”
Dear M. David, before anything, I apologize for my English.
I am interested by your definition of authority. Because, as far as I understand the way you use it, it makes me think of power, linked to a status, a place in an orgachart. Is that what you mean? As a consultant, I use the terms of power, authority and skills as the 3 levers to lead & manage people. I make the following difference between the 3 : Power is the ability to give means, the higher in the hierarchy, the more you receive. Authority is linked to our personality: how far can I convince people, up to what point do I make them grow, do I empower the (in latin, authority means to make people bigger), do I make them aknowledge what they know and do not know AND help them find the motivation to improve. Skills come from education and experience and are necessary to analyse and find solution. One’s analyze may be correct but without authority, one’s will meet difficulties in convincing the other.
I am a bit long and passionate with these subjects.
I am looking forward to reading you.
Best regards and best wishes for 2019!

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1. Bob Davids
  
  11 January 2019
  
  Hi Eve, Thx for your comment. First we need to agree on managing or leading people. Plz look at my Ted Talks, Management is control, Leadership is no control. Like Eisenhower and Townsend, I do not believe you can manage or control what goes on in a persons mind. I believe the person with the final decision in an organization has the responsibility to match Authority with Responsibility when assigning a problem/issue. Responsibility puts the problem on a person, Authority gives the decision power to decide/solve. I think we can have a long and fruitful discussion on Power; I use the Ghandi model. The higher you go up in an organization and the more POWER you get…the less POWER you can use. I do not include SKILLS in the equation, A person can be responsible and have the authority and still not possess skill to solve. I like your comment where you help people find the MOTIVATION; I believe no human can motivate another, only that person can motivate themself; you create the environment where they motivate themself.
  We can continue on email, this subject has too many layers for this format, I love your interest in these details. Plz email me when you can. Best wishes in 2019! Bob
  
  Cheers! Bob Davids
  
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“Leadership without Ego” gems — Week I

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2 responses to ““Leadership without Ego” gems — Week I”

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