The Difference Between the Leader and the "Leader" Part 2

(a continuation)

Leader: Often takes the blame
Non-Leader: Looks for a scapegoat

Leader: Gives credit to others
Non-Leader: Takes credit; complains about lack of good people

Leader: Gives honest, frequent feedback
Non-Leader: Info flows one way - into his or her own office

Leader: Knows when and how to fire people
Non-Leader: Ducks unpleasant tasks

Leader: Weeds the garden
Non-Leader: Likes to get bigger and more complex

Leader: Goes where the trouble is to help
Non-Leader: Interrupts people in crisis and calls them to meeting in his or her office

Leader: Sees growth as a by-product of search of excellence
Non-Leader: Sees growth as primary goal

Leader: Has respect for all people
Non-Leader: Thinks blue collars and pink collars are lazy, incompetent ingrates

Leader: Knows the business and the kind of people who make it tick
Non-Leader: They've never met him or her

Leader: Honest under pressure
Non-Leader: Improvises, equivocates

Leader: Looks for controls to abolish
Non-Leader: Loves new controls

Leader: Prefers eyeball to eyeball instead of memos
Non-Leader: Prefer memos, long reports

Leader: Straightforward
Non-Leader: Tricky, manipulative

Leader: Consistent and credible to the troops
Non-Leader: Unpredictable; says what he thinks they want to hear

Leader: Admits own mistakes; comforts others when they admit them
Non-Leader: Never makes mistakes; blames others; starts witch hunts to identify culprits

Leader: No policy manuals
Non-Leader: Policy manuals

Leader: Openness
Non-Leader: Secrecy

Leader: Little paperwork in planning
Non-Leader: Vast paperwork in planning

Leader: Promotes from within
Non-Leader: Always searching outside the company

Leader: Keeps his promises
Non-Leader: Doesn't

Leader: Plain office
Non-Leader: Lavish office

Leader: Thinks there are at least two other people in the company who would be good CEOs
Non-Leader: Number one priority is to make bloody sure no one remotely resembling a CEO gets on the payroll

Leader: Focused to the point of monomania on the company's values and objectives
Non-Leader: Unfocused except on self

Leader: Company is No. 1
Non-Leader: Self is No. 1

Leader: Sees mistakes as learning opportunities
Non-Leader: Sees mistakes as punishable offenses

You now know more about leaders and leadership than all the combined graduate business schools in America.