Establish yourself as an expert or thought leader

Being a thought leader is not about being a “boss” – neither is it about being a “manager”. Leadership is not only at monthly or weekly meetings. It is leadership to talk openly and often to those you lead, and go “visit their desk” – also just for a chat. Good leaders create a room for dialog, trust, mentoring and practice.

Leadership is about behavior – not attributes – nor properties. Management in itself is a structured process – perhaps very complex, but yet structured around planning, measuring and decisions. You can manage by Excel, but you can never lead by Excel.

Come to think of it, management can be somewhat automated, setup as routines, macros that verify and tricked by events. Management by bean-counting spreadsheets can be executed anywhere and can be setup as a commodity. True story – you can buy “Outsourcing management – as a service”

Outsourcing management as a service would require strong blend of skills in areas of program management, service management and relationship management. PMOs must own “outsourcing management as a service” and evolve these skills to implement and mature the competencies, and to derive maximum value from outsourcing initiatives

Leadership in comparison is more bespoke, and require a range of tools, tips and tricks – based on context and on the people in the team. Similar to testing and checking, we need to consider both activities – but also learn the difference between them.

So stand up, apply a little courage and be a thought leader in your own right. Stand on my shoulders if you like – it would be my privilege to support you: Establish yourself as an expert or thought leader!

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#BigSelfishPun – the title of this blogpost and the below screenshot is from an internal presentation by Henry Singer, http://henrysinger.blogspot.com/ from September 29, 2011 called “Blogging for business“, where my internal blog was used among others and an example of  good use of a global collaboration tool.