‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things’
Peter Drucker, former Austrian-American Management Consultant
This is our last ‘Thought for the Week’ in 2024 — we've provided 51 commentaries over the past year: 14 on politics, 11 on capitalism, 13 focused on the needs of young people, and 13 others — including seven on a spiritual theme.
One of this last group was ‘The Woes of the Church of England’, published on 25th November; those woes have risen still further over the past fortnight with pressure on the Archbishop of York and the voluntary ‘de-frocking’ of former Archbishop Carey. Its leadership should be based on strategy and not simply reaction, but the Church has demonstrated that its capacity to change is very limited, and that it is prompted primarily by circumstances.
Politicians generally do exactly the same thing: the recent and wholly understandable fury of the ‘WASPI’ women, who were promised one thing before the election, only to be refused now, is a typical example. On 23rd September our environmental ‘Thought for the Week’ was entitled, ‘How shifting priorities risk our future’ and it spelt out the real dangers that result from reacting to circumstances.
Regulators are much the same — in a recent conversation focused on resolving a new approach to enable international regulation and administration for ‘Stock for Data’, I was informed that regulators only prioritise issues like this when the circumstances demand it.
This week's commentary is short, being in the run-up to Christmas; but we're taking the opportunity to ask you for a few examples where leadership has changed the world for the better. We’ll also provide a reference to Richard Higginson's book, ‘Transforming Leadership’, for new year’s reading.
In contrast to religion and politics, financial markets are essentially reactive: although wise investors, appreciating that movements invariably reflect changing expectations rather than immediate supply and demand, do try to anticipate how opinions may change in the future, therefore regarding the market as a good bellwether of the degree of confidence in wider leadership.
Drawing a distinction between leadership and management is central to getting the balance between strategy and circumstances right. One of the best definitions of that distinction is to be found in Richard Higginson's book, which, although written from a Christian perspective, provides a strong guide for business and politics in addition to religion.
And that's a good lead to follow in order to find examples of strategic leaders who have contributed significantly to human development. Perhaps in this respect an additional question could be added at the end of that long-running BBC programme, 'Desert Island Discs’.
When guests are invited to choose a book of their choice, they're always told that they will get a copy of the Bible and the works of Shakespeare in any case. If they were asked to identify someone with really strategic leadership capability, they would no doubt be provided automatically with the name of Jesus: which, of course, we are about to celebrate over Christmas.
But if you were asked to nominate someone with outstanding strategic leadership qualities, either historical or current, who would you put forward? Please let us know by emailing [email protected] . We’ll provide the list of all those identified in our first commentary in 2025, and hopefully it will provide inspiration to those who will have to lead us next year through the chaos of today's world.
As my starter for the list, I would volunteer the name of Nelson Mandela, who showed so clearly how peaceful coexistence between a polarised and divided community can be achieved, and Florence Nightingale with her pioneering approach to health services.
Meanwhile, my best wishes for a very happy Christmas and new year.
Gavin Oldham OBE
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