Andrew was beside himself. “How could this happen?” he exclaimed. “We had that bid locked down. That was our contract. We have literally worked for 16 months to position ourselves. We built the infrastructure. We built the relationships with the customer at all the levels. Then one guy gets promoted and we get a form letter saying that our contract has been terminated, thirty days notice.”

“What do you think the problem is?” I asked.

“I don’t know, sometimes I think my whole team is incompetent. To let this slip through, when we worked so hard for it.”

“Do you really think your team is incompetent?” I followed up.

Andrew shook his head from side to side. “No. Heaven’s no. What am I thinking? To every person on the team, I wouldn’t trade a single one. They are all A players. I just don’t know what happened.”

It was my turn. “Sometimes, when we think about competence, we think it is our ability to control the parts of the world that cannot be controlled. Events of the world will occur in spite of us. So, what is competence?” Andrew was listening, but not sure if he liked what he heard. I continued.

“The Boy Scouts’ motto is Be Prepared. I believe competence has to do with preparedness. We often try to control those things in life that cannot be controlled. And we fail to control the one thing in life that can be controlled, ourselves, our preparedness, our own competence.” -TF

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I was still sitting with David, talking about a seemingly competent manager, who simply never accomplished anything. This manager had talked a good game, but never took any effective action, never made any significant progress.

“David, I often see this in my management program. Students come into the class thinking they will listen to a series of lectures, get the latest management techniques and life will be good. I talk about how education is often understanding certain technical information. I talk about how training is often motivational to make a person feel a certain way. But in my class, the focus is on action. Quite frankly, I don’t care how much you know. I don’t care how you feel. I care about what you do.

“Some students,” I continued, “are surprised to find themselves, no longer sitting comfortably in their chairs, but standing at the front of the class. I want them on their feet, out of their comfort zone. Leadership starts with thinking. Leadership is about who you are. But ultimately, leadership is all about what you do.” -TF

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David was not surprised, but his disappointment was strong. “I don’t understand,” he started, then abruptly changed his pitch. “Yes, I do understand. I hired this guy, Marty, for a management position. He interviewed well, had all the buzzwords, you know, teamwork, synergy. Hell, he even kept the book, Good to Great propped up on his desk the whole time he was here.”

“So, what was the problem?” I asked.

“The problem was, he never actually got anything done. We would meet, be on the same page, but the job never got done. The progress, during the time he was here, quite frankly stood still.”

A few seconds ticked by. David looked up. He continued.

“You asked about the difference? I think I know the answer, now. The difference is action. Words are fine, theories are fine, planning is fine, but the big difference in success is action.” -TF

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“A leader is someone who gets things done,” Stephanie responded. “At my church, whenever there is a project that needs to get done, people scatter. They all have excuses. They don’t have enough time. They are too busy. They don’t know how. So, the same one or two people eventually get asked to run the project.

“But when I look at those people, they are busier than anyone else. They always have more on their plate than the next person, yet somehow, they always get the job done. And they seem to get it done with little effort, even though they probably have less time to devote to the project than anyone else.”

“So, what do you think is the difference?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I mean everyone seems to want to help out, but some people just do it. There is a big difference between wanting to get something done, and actually doing it.”

“My question is still on the table,” I said. “What is the difference? What are the factors that make it so?” -TF
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“So, what’s the difference?” I asked.

Stephanie was slow to respond. We were talking about people. “Well, it’s like my team, there are definitely some different personalities.”

“And what about you? What makes you different? As the leader of your team, what makes you different?”

“Is it personality?” Stephanie knew there was a difference, but she had never thought about it.

“Some people think personality has something to do with it, but there is no evidence that any personality type is more or less successful as a leader. It may look a little different, but personality doesn’t explain the difference.

“Look, the world is the same for everyone. We are all faced with challenges, crisis, learning and growth. Yet some people stand out as leaders. What do you notice about them?”

“Leaders seem more aware. They know what to do. They have more energy. When they speak, what they have to say is interesting. People listen to them.” Stephanie was beginning to see the difference.

“So, if we are all faced with the same circumstances, the difference lies in the way a leader thinks.”

Over the course of the next few days, we will explore what this thinking consists of. In the meantime, I would like your thoughts. How does a leader think differently? Post your comment.

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“I feel a bit overwhelmed,” admitted Melissa. “There are so many things that could go wrong on this project, and I am just not sure if I can manage it all.”

“You are right,” I replied. “You cannot manage every detail. Success consists of the execution of a hundred things, most of which cannot be managed.”

“Then how?”

“Most things we accomplish as managers consist of processes and systems with elements that can be measured and managed. But that is only part of the story. Success also requires elements like focused attention, cooperation with team members and commitment to the result. Those are elements which are difficult to measure, but more importantly, almost impossible to manage. You cannot manage focus, cooperation and commitment.

“This is the people side of management, and people don’t want to be managed. This is where leadership comes in.”

Melissa was silent. She was thinking. “So success as a manager requires both management and leadership.”

I nodded. “And often, the people side is more critical than the process side. I will take a mediocre process coupled with a fired up attitude over a spectacular process with a poor attitude. And that is why leadership is so important.” -TF

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