Virtue:
Management
Other names:
Leadership
Domestic prudence
Domestic prudence
Definition:
Governing intermediate associations (families, companies, associations, etc.
( Differs from Leadership. Leadership, per Havard, requires multiple virtues.)
Advice:
"delegate almost everything. Ultra-productive people don't ask, "How can I do this task?" Instead, they ask, "How can this task get done?" They take the I out of it as much as possible. Ultra-productive people don't have control issues, and they are not micro-managers. In many cases, good enough is, well, good enough" (Bradberry #11)
Insist on Completed Staff Work (Yoest)
Empirical Research:
Leadership involves a large number of personality traits and abilities that are oriented towards helping, directing and motivating others to achieve success (CSV)
Most measures of leadership focus on assessing a person's ability to acquire, organize and communicate information, to manage material resources and to motivate and monitor personal resources.
Studies show that quality of leadership accounts for up half of the variability in organizational performance (D.V. Day and Lord, 1988; N. Weiner and Mahoney, 1981). Good leadership is linked to higher job satisfaction, motivation and productivity amongst members of the group (Lowe, Kroeck, and Sivasubramaniam, 1996).
Few programs focus specifically on cultivating the personal qualities necessary for leadership. However, there are some exceptions, which aim to develop greater self-awareness and self-understanding (Conger, 1993; Yukl, 2002).
Most measures of leadership focus on assessing a person's ability to acquire, organize and communicate information, to manage material resources and to motivate and monitor personal resources.
Studies show that quality of leadership accounts for up half of the variability in organizational performance (D.V. Day and Lord, 1988; N. Weiner and Mahoney, 1981). Good leadership is linked to higher job satisfaction, motivation and productivity amongst members of the group (Lowe, Kroeck, and Sivasubramaniam, 1996).
Few programs focus specifically on cultivating the personal qualities necessary for leadership. However, there are some exceptions, which aim to develop greater self-awareness and self-understanding (Conger, 1993; Yukl, 2002).
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Further reading:
Havard, Alexander. Virtuous Leadership.
Yoest, The Memo.
Vices opposed:
Case Study
ReplyDeleteBusiness professor John Wesley Yoest summarizes the practice of management as follows in his book, The Memo. " The experienced coach/manager has the wisdom and judgment to determine what is important and what can be left out. Experience and practice produces a fine filter separating what is needed and valuable from what is less useful. This seasoning can take decades to produce a competent senior manager.
"The staffer, as an individual contributor, is the one who 'does the work'—sifts through the overwhelming barrage of data and options—so that the manager can make a focused decision.
"Most of the manager’s decision-making work will be deciding 'what to do' and 'what not to do.' He will spend most of his management time cutting away and making a difference and decisions suitable to his pay-grade.
"So the CEO must focus on only the moves that most leverage his time for greatest impact. How does he decide what those few things will be? Venture Capitalist and Chief Executive Officer trainer Fred Wilson recommends that, 'A CEO does only three things.'
"1. Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders.
"2. Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company.
"3. Makes sure there is always enough cash in the bank.
"The manager must understand these priorities and decide to decide. The best CEOs cut to the chase. The words 'decide,' 'concise,' and 'scissors' share a root word—to cut away. Decide is a verb from the late fourteenth century, meaning 'to settle a dispute,' from the Old French decider, from the Latin decidere 'to decide, determine'—literally—'to cut off.'" (Yoest Jr., The Memo, ch. 2)
Case Study
ReplyDelete"At the outset of his pontificate, like any other CEO, John Paul II needed to assemble an executive team. He needed to select the men who would be responsible, at the highest levels, for helping him implement his vision. He could have done this immediately, making sweeping changes as soon as he was elected. But he didn’t. He made some key appointments early, but for the most part, he waited until he felt the right time and right person had come along. He observed the nature of the Vatican, the nature of those around him, and only slowly, after careful deliberation, made changes to the staff and structure he inherited from John Paul I and Paul VI.
"Whenever a position opened, he filled it with someone who shared his vision; someone who also was capable, secure, and independent. He gave people freedom to realize his vision in their own way.
"The pope didn’t assemble his leadership team out of men who were virtual clones of himself. Rather, he brought together individuals with starkly different personalities and backgrounds. There was the shrewd and political Cardinal Augustino Casaroli, who as Secretary of State finessed both diplomats and dictators with great skill. Then there was the shy and reflective Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whose methodical mind brought clarity to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office responsible for the teaching of Catholic doctrine. Smiling Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, appointed as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, had a gentle and friendly demeanor that made him a naturally disarming defender of the Catholic Liturgy."
...
"In that, John Paul understood what so many CEOs don’t. One of the marks of great leadership is the ability to match the right person with the right task. You must be a synchronizer of talent, understanding what’s really required for each and every job and knowing what skills are necessary to accomplish specific tasks." (Widmer, The Pope & the CEO, ch. 6)