I was going through my archives and cleaning stuff out and I came across this typewritten list from about 25 years ago. I’m not exactly sure who wrote it, but at the time it made an impression on me. Especially the first line–“Leaders carry the water for people.”
| LEADER | NON-LEADER |
|---|---|
| Carries water for people. | Presides over the mess. |
| A coach appealing to the best in each person; open door; problem solver and advice giver; cheerleader. | Invisible-gives orders to staff-expects him to be carried out |
| Thinks of ways to make people more productive, more focused on company goals; how to reward them | Thinks a personal rewards, status, and how he or she looks to outsiders |
| Comfortable with people in their workplaces. | Uncomfortable with people. |
| MBWA (Manages by wandering around). | No MBWA |
| Arrives early-stays late. | In late-usually leaves on time |
| Common touch. | Strained with blue collars. |
| Good listener. | Good talker. |
| Simplistic on company values. | Good at demonstrating his command of all the complexities. |
| Available. | Hard to reach from below. |
| Fair. | Fair to the top; exploits the rest. |
| Humble. | Arrogant. |
| Tough-confronts nasty problems. | Elusive-the artful dodger. |
| Persistent. | Only when his own goodies are at stake. |
| Simplifies (makes it look easy). | Complicates (makes it look difficult). |
| Tolerant of open disagreement. | Intolerant of open disagreement |
| Knows people's names. | Doesn't know people's names. |
| Has strong convictions. | Vacillates when a decision is needed. |
| Does dog-work when necessary. | Above dog work. |
| Trusts people. | Trusts only words and numbers on paper. |
| Delegates whole important jobs. | Keeps all final decisions. |
| Often takes the blame. | Looks for a scapegoat. |