Message from the District Governor, February 2008

Here's the DG's message from Issue 2 of District 80 80/80 Vision newsletter.

Reproduced with permission.


The Function of Leadership

Each year, the District has a new team. As District leaders, we need to identify quality people for leadership roles and identifying good people requires that we first understand the function of leadership.

Leadership is different from management.

Management is about practices and procedures. Good management brings order and consistency to practices and procedures without which there would be chaos.

Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change. With faster technological change, greater global awareness and changing demographics, the world has become more volatile. More and more changes are needed to survive and more change always demands more leadership.

Consider these differences between management and leadership:

Management is involved in planning. It sets targetrs and goals for the future. It establishes detailed steps for achieving these targets, including allocating the resources necessary to achieving them. By contrast, leadership is involved in setting a direction. It sets out a vision and develops the strategies necessary to achieve that vision.

Management is involved in organizing. It sets out to create an organizational structure and to recruit qualified people to carry out its plans. Leadership, however, is involved in communication. It sets out to communicate new direction. It sets out to ensure that its vision is understood and that there is commitment to its achievement.

Finally, management is involved in controlling and problem solving. It sets out to monitor results by means of reports and other tools. But for leadership, achieving a vision requires motivating and inspiring. People are kept moving in the right direction by appealing to basic human needs, values and emotions.

"Business as usual" is no longer good enough in the twenty-first century. Many organizations suffer from too much management and not enough leadership. It would be ideal if organizations have in place human resource schemes to develop the leadership potential of their employees. Our organization needs to expose our members to experiences designed to develop that potential.

Michael Wee, DTM