Wolf J. Rinke

<p>Is your organization striving to create better managers? Or are you striving to create better leaders? Are they one in the same? Before you answer these questions, consider this point: You manage things; you lead people.</p>

<p>Most people crave to be led -- but don't want to be managed. If on top of that they can be involved in a worthy cause, be part of a winning team, feel great about the person they report to, and feel great about themselves, they are literally in work heaven.</p>

<p>With the focus now in creating better leaders, the next question is: How? I believe that becoming a more effective leader depends on one''s ability to look at current situations from different angles, to apply a new mode of thinking, to challenge the norm, to look at what others are doing and do something different.</p>

<p>To illustrate my point, the following chart highlights the differences between management and Contrarian Leadership:</p>

<p>Managers rely on the "tried and true" vs. Contrarian Leaders that experiment with Contrarian approaches Following this pattern, the characteristics of the two, contrasted, are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Maintain vs. Develop</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Control vs. Trust</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Direct vs. Inspire</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Administer vs. Innovate</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Strategy driven vs. Philosophy driven</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Rely on position power vs. Empower</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Structure/system focus vs. People focus</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Cope with complexity vs. Embrace change</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Focus on the bottom line vs. Focus on employee and customer satisfaction</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>

<li>Do things right vs. Do the right things right</li>

<li style=" list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;">
<p> </p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>As this list shows, the qualities that Contrarian leaders embody enable them to instill within their organization an entrepreneurial, empowered culture that gives employees the license to act.</p>

<p><!--Wolf Rinke--></p>