A speaker uses a Japanese koan to argue that management and leadership are different things. Management pushes and delegates; leadership inspires and empowers. The command-and-control era is over. Organizations need self-directed people who act without authority, and frontline workers already show real leadership despite having no formal power.
We've got to understand this difference between the manager and the leader. Now, it'd be nice if all managers were also really effective leaders too, right? But it's not so much. So we've got to kill the manager. Now, before you get the wrong idea, all right, this is based on an old Japanese mind exercise called a koan. And all a koan is, it's a puzzle, it's a riddle, and it's designed to make us think very deeply about something. And one of the most famous ones is, What do you do when you meet the Buddha on the road? Kill him. Now, why would you want to kill the Buddha? He's a pretty nice guy, right? It's not about the Buddha as a person. It's about what the Buddha represents. And the Buddha represents— it's about killing those things that hold us back from what he represents. The Buddha represents enlightenment, right? True understanding. And the strange thing about enlightenment, as soon as we think we've got it, We usually don't. So it's about killing those parts of us that hold us back from that, which might be— when we talk about enlightenment, that might be delusion, arrogance, pride, things of that nature. Well, it's the same thing when we're talking about our evil manager. Now don't get me wrong, management is important, but it's not leadership. For one thing, the manager motivates. The leader inspires. The manager delegates. The leader empowers. And a manager pushes or drives. The leader guides. So when we're talking about dealing with people, we're talking about killing that manager in us and letting that inner leader shine through. A genuine leader as a person who has the ability to attract willing followers and the will to serve them. Now, notice the emphasis on that word "willing." The age of command and control is dead. If you're still stuck in that mode as an individual or as an organization, you're either in trouble now or you're heading for trouble. Right? What do you want? Do you want to be in command of a bunch of people who can't think for themselves? Who have to run to you for every little thing, who bring you more problems than solutions, or worse than that, do you want a bunch of yes-men around who are never really quite honest with you, right? And they only tell you what they think you want to hear. Or do you want leaders? Leaders, people who see what needs doing and they do it. People who are innovative and creative. People who are self-directed, self-motivated, and want to go the extra mile. Leadership has nothing to do with authority. You got plenty of people right on your front lines that are terrific leaders that have little or no authority, right? And let's face it, we all know there are plenty of people with a lot of power and authority who are just plain lousy leaders. Again, we don't need rank or title or even permission We can lead or we can refuse.
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