Leo Reynolds

Jack Welch summed up his philosophy at General Electric succinctly:

“I don’t run GE,” he said, “I lead GE.”

The first half of this two-part post unpacked some thoughts on the difference between managing and leading in preparation for this: You don’t have to be Jack Welch and you don’t have to be responsible for the well-being of a giant corporation to make your mark as a leader.

The last two decades gave rise to all manner of initiatives and systems for managing our way to greater margins through cost savings. But no one has demonstrated how we can manage to cut our way to sustainable growth.

Here’s how this nets out: If you were hired to be a leader (or if it’s your company), then lead. Get someone else to manage so you can think about and communicate with your people about a bigger vision than simply making payroll. Assess the structures and culture of your company and determine the extent to which they’re aligned with your vision. Then set yourself to the work of promoting that vision morning noon and night—or else get a better vision. Or better people. Whatever the obstacle, lead your way out of it (or around it) and get on with growing your business—that’s what leaders do. (If that sounds overwhelming, get in touch with my colleague Dan Wooldridge who specializes in helping leaders figure out how get from where they are to where they mean to be).

And what if you don’t run the joint? What if you’re not the owner or CEO, but a department head or project manager—what if you want to lead but don’t have the authority or the resources to delegate management to someone else?

We’re with Tom Peters on this. For people who don’t run the company Peters is the champion for WOW! projects. He has yet to meet a project that can’t be turned into an opportunity to WOW the boss, the client, the customer or the team. He thinks the WOW project is the key to employment and income in our immediate future.

“Culture change—that big elusive goal—often starts with a single, small WOW! project.” — Tom Peters

We agree. Seize the opportunity to lead right where you are. Look at the POPCAP worksheet. What leadership activities can you embrace without letting your management responsibilities slide? It may cost some extra hours but see what you can do to frame a vision for your team that’s more significant than meeting the minimum requirements of the job. Find ways to realign the structure and culture of your team to energize people toward the legitimate goal of your work (which is important to say because hijacking your team to a purpose that doesn’t serve your employer pretty much always ends in tears).

All this said, we think there may be an even bigger idea at work. Here are words from the apostle Paul:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. — Colossians 3:23,24

As far as we’re concerned, that sounds like a mandate for creating WOW! projects no matter where your box sits in the org chart. If you’re not happy with the direction things are moving, instead of trying to manage the tensions, why not try leading your project team or department or business unit or division into a WOW! process with WOW! results? Succeed or fail, it’ll get you noticed (and you can figure out what to do from there, right?).