There is an old proverb that says: leadership is doing the right thing and management is doing things right. “The world is full of managers and desperately short of leaders.” (“Leading at the Edge of Chaos”, Emmett C. Murphy and Mark. A. Murphy). Believe it or not, there is a big difference between the two – and yet you need both in today’s business environment. 

In today’s world, the old ways of management a la Frederick Winslow Taylor, no longer work and will never work again.  Things are different.  The world is much flatter than it was back in the turn of the 20th century: there are enormous globally competitive challenges that are unprecedented. Things are very interesting nowadays with a generation of “Trophy Kids” that are infiltrating the workforce who are a worldly, technologically savvy, confident and driven individuals. A large Baby Boomer workforce that will be exiting the labor market within the next decade.  You cannot address stuff like this with more of the same management practices that have been in practice for decades.  Successful change in organizations nowadays needs leadership. 

• Leaders seize opportunities; managers avert threats. 
• Leaders amplify strengths; managers reduce weaknesses. 

One of my favorite CEOs, Jack Welch had a goal for General Electric (GE) to become “the world’s most competitive enterprise.”  He knew that nothing short of a “revolution” would be needed to transform that dream into reality. 

“The model of business in corporate America in 1980 had not changed in decades. Workers worked, managers managed, and everyone new their place. Forms and approvals and bureaucracy ruled the day.” Welch’s self-proclaimed revolution meant waging war on GE’s old ways of doing things and reinventing the company from top to bottom.

Jack Welch is all about leadership, not management. Actually, he wanted to discard the term “manager” altogether because it had come to mean someone who “controls rather than facilitates, complicates rather than simplifies, acts more like a governor than an accelerator.” Welch has given great of thought to how to manage employees effectively so that they are as productive as possible. And he has come to a seemingly paradoxical view. The less managing you do the better off your company. Manage less to manage more.

Welch decided that GE’s leaders, who did too much controlling and monitoring, had to change their management styles. “Managers slow things down. Leaders spark the business to run smoothly, quickly. Managers talk to one another, write memos to one another. Leaders talk to their employees, talk with their employees, filling them with vision, getting them to perform at levels the employees themselves didn’t think possible. Then (and to Welch this is a critical ingredient) they simply get out of the way.” (Jack Welch and the GE Way, Robert Slater). 

I’m going to expand a bit on Mr. Welch’s philosophy and say that not only do we need leaders, but we need inspirational leaders. People do what they have to do for a manager, but they will do their best for an inspirational leader. 

To inspire you must both create resonance and move people with a compelling vision. You need embody what you ask of others, and be able to articulate a shared vision in a way that inspires others to act. Inspirational leadership is the key to success in today’s world.

Here are 10 characteristics of what I believe are needed in an Inspirational Leader:

1. Provide an inspiring vision and strategic alignment with the goals of the organization.
2. Help people connect their personal goals to business goals.
3. Make relentless innovation your religion and evangelize it constantly.
4. Encourage entrepreneurial creativity and experimentation.
5. Involve everyone, empower and trust your employees.
6. Coach and train your people to greatness.
7. Build teams and promote teamwork diversity.
8. Motivate, inspire, and energize people. Recognize achievements too. 
9. Encourage risk taking. 
10. Make your business fun and demonstrate passion in it.