Leadership Management

Leadership is both a field of study and a practical skill that encompasses the ability of an individual or organization to “lead” or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. …”.

Studies of leadership have produced theories that elaborate on specific traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others. (Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version))

John P. Kotter, one of the world famous authors on leadership has written several books on the subject.

Wikipedia writes about him: John Paul Kotter (* February 25, 1947 in San Diego, California) is a professor of leadership management at Harvard Business School. He is particularly known for his work in change management.

A major thematic work that has brought him global prominence is: A Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management. ISBN-10: 9780029184653

One of his most famous books is the book entitled: The Penguin Principle. How Change Leads to Success (“Our Iceberg Is Melting”). Droemer, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-426-27412-4 (together with Holger Rathgeber).

What does the Penguin Principle, invented by the Harvard professor, mean?

Kotter describes the change process using the example of a herd of penguins noticing that the iceberg is melting. He describes the reaction and change process using 8 steps. The 8 steps to make such a change are:

1.Raise awareness of the problem (and demonstrate the need to solve it).
2. Assemble a team – to coordinate the change.
3.Develop a vision and strategy for a better future
4.Communicate this vision of the future to the other stakeholders so that they understand and accept it
5.Remove as many obstacles as possible
7.Achieve initial successes as quickly as possible
8.Continue to drive the necessary changes until they are firmly established
9.Ensure that the changes achieved are not undermined by tradition.

Now it is a special challenge for a good manager to draw the right conclusions for the change from the classic change theory and the theory for customer orientation. It requires various leadership competencies to pull the cart out of the mud. What do you do when the iceberg melts?

It is a business question:

First and foremost is a question of people management. Especially in Corona times, the iceberg melts enormously. Now competencies of good leaders are needed. With the current knowledge and the outlook, how can I plan for 2020? How can I lead my team out of the crisis and manage it at a distance? Is this still a classic management task? Or is it a completely different responsibility? How do I lead my team in the home office was at least three months a challenge?

If a company is committed to customer orientation, departments and teams have to be managed differently today. They have to be able to make decisions directly at the customer or in customer contact. Availability of information and speed is a competitive advantage. And this is only possible if employees are empowered by top management (leaders) to make decisions themselves.

If the customer is treated according to standard or has to wait for a decision (because of a query to the superior), he will quickly leave for the competition. And the personnel stands – without an appropriate information and/or decision – like a watered poodle before the customer. he could not make a final decision. The customer could not say whether the decision made only later fits for him. So everyone leaves dissatisfied.

Who are typical leaders? What is good leadership?

Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, to name just a few. As a brand, they shape the corporate culture through their way of communicating and their behavior. They drive ideas, set directions and present or represent their company every second.

Leadership management is of course not only represented by top management. Any other executive can also become a leader in some type of leadership management. It depends on the type of leadership style, not the hierarchy.

A special type is Digital Leadership. Wikipedia (as of 06/18/2020) writes about it:

“Digital Leadership is a scientific approach to defining the tasks and tools of leadership in times of digitalization in general and in phases of transformation to digitalization in particular. It was first developed and mentioned by Utho Creusen at the Catholic University of Eichstätt/Ingolstadt in connection with the study of leadership in start-ups. Other authors use the term Leadership 4.0 to describe a comparable leadership concept.

A distinction is made between the areas of leadership in startups, leadership in digital companies and leadership in the digital transformation, and conclusions are drawn for the various leadership approaches in each case (see graphic Leadership approaches). The starting point is the realization that digitally leading companies achieve higher revenues, earnings and enterprise value depending on their level of digital maturity (digital readiness).”