Leadership for Non-Bosses - Getting Things Done Without Pulling Rank

Overview: There is situation where a person is accountable for getting a project done, and he need assistance and cooperation from a number of people. There is a gap, however, between responsibility and authority level of a person. Maybe he is not high enough on the totem pole to tell people what to do, or maybe even if he is, command and control is just not his style. “How to get buy-in, cooperation and assistance from people who don't report to you” is focused in the article. No matter how high up the corporate ladder is, one will find himself interacting with groups of people that he need to influence without pulling rank because of number of reasons as many projects are undertaken by temporary, cross-functional groups or "swat teams" that are put together solely for the purpose of the project, without affecting the company's organizational chart. People forget that leadership is, first and foremost, a service. If he is not a person that fulfills a need for the people he lead, then he have no business being a leader, regardless of the rank in the company. The trend in business, not only for special projects, but even for "business as usual" is away from hierarchical reporting relationships with command-and-control styles of management. Being able to master leadership techniques that work regardless of rank behooves everyone, from the CEO to the entry-level newcomer.

(Is this item miscategorized? Does it need more tags? Let us know.)

Format: HTML | Date: Jan 2003 | Pages: 1