Posted on Jul 6, 2015
Do you agree with Peter Drucker's lessons for leaders?
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Thought this was great post to share with our young leaders coming up through the ranks across the various services.
RP Members what are your comments and thoughts about these leadership Lessons?
Here is a snapshot if you don't want to go to the link:
In his new book, Drucker on Leadership, Bill Cohen, a student and colleague of Peter Drucker, extracts the leadership lessons that he learned from this great thought leader. Here are the lessons that Bill uncovered:
1. Strategic planning is the first priority of the leader. Drucker believed that the leader's job was to create the desired future for the company or the organization. The leader needed to be intimately involved with the strategic direction.
2. Ethics and integrity are critical for leader effectiveness. Character and ethical behavior are of central importance for the leader. According to Drucker, followers might forgive leaders for mistakes, but will not forgive a lack of integrity.
3. Model the military. Peter Drucker had great respect for how the military developed leadership, with an emphasis on character and leaders as positive role models. The military's emphasis on commitment and "taking care of your people" are examples of what Drucker admired about military leadership.
4. Motivation: Treat employees like volunteers. Peter greatly admired nonprofit organizations, and he extracted leadership lessons from them. If a leader treats employees as if they were volunteers - free to leave at any time - the leader pays greater attention to the non-monetary needs of workers, and moves from transactional motivation to transformational motivation.
5. Leaders should be marketers. This surprising lesson really means that leaders should be focused on the customer, and be concerned about how customers view the organization and its products or services. The leader must set the tone for how the organization is viewed, and be its best
representative.https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/200911/peter-drucker-leadership
RP Members what are your comments and thoughts about these leadership Lessons?
Here is a snapshot if you don't want to go to the link:
In his new book, Drucker on Leadership, Bill Cohen, a student and colleague of Peter Drucker, extracts the leadership lessons that he learned from this great thought leader. Here are the lessons that Bill uncovered:
1. Strategic planning is the first priority of the leader. Drucker believed that the leader's job was to create the desired future for the company or the organization. The leader needed to be intimately involved with the strategic direction.
2. Ethics and integrity are critical for leader effectiveness. Character and ethical behavior are of central importance for the leader. According to Drucker, followers might forgive leaders for mistakes, but will not forgive a lack of integrity.
3. Model the military. Peter Drucker had great respect for how the military developed leadership, with an emphasis on character and leaders as positive role models. The military's emphasis on commitment and "taking care of your people" are examples of what Drucker admired about military leadership.
4. Motivation: Treat employees like volunteers. Peter greatly admired nonprofit organizations, and he extracted leadership lessons from them. If a leader treats employees as if they were volunteers - free to leave at any time - the leader pays greater attention to the non-monetary needs of workers, and moves from transactional motivation to transformational motivation.
5. Leaders should be marketers. This surprising lesson really means that leaders should be focused on the customer, and be concerned about how customers view the organization and its products or services. The leader must set the tone for how the organization is viewed, and be its best
representative.https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/200911/peter-drucker-leadership
Leadership
Leadership Development
Professional Development
Lessons Learned
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 14
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Everything he said is right on target, not new info but worded in a way that may get through to some more than others. I personally believe that #2 is by far the most important one. People can forgive a mistake but once trust and credibility are question or lost it is almost impossible to come back from. So many believe that the people that work around them don't see flaws and the leader cannot be honest. Fact is everyone knows your flaws and you admitting them elevated both trust and credibility.
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Drucker is right on the mark. I happen to have read many of his 39 books, and many of his articles. He is the father of modern management - not much new has been put forward since. Many of his predictions on the future of business came to pass as well.
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As far as lesson 3 goes, I wholeheartedly agree with that. I left active duty in 1996 and started working as an entry level manager for Hertz Corporation at O'Hare Int'l Airport. Within 8 months, I was promoted to the next level management position over managers with more seniority because I was taking care of the hourly employees when it came time to pay. It was very satisfying to hear a union steward comment on how well I was doing that. The only one I somewhat disagree with thr first, strategic planning. At the entry level or junior officer level, I am not sure strategic planning is required. What is required is understanding the intent 2 levels up and you hope that as you go up the chain, that intent is ultimately nested in a strategic vision. I also think senior leaders (both military and civilian) fail to articulate clearly their intent or what that strategic vision/planning is. But at the senior level, strategic planning is the key leadership task in my opinion.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
COL Jon Thompson Thanks for the feedback and a great example of one of the Lessons. I agree with your assessment on the strategic planning. I think it important for junior leaders to have a conceptual understanding of what is going on at the strategic level as we groom them for greater responsibilities.
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