“What Leaders Really Do”

BY ‘JOHN KOTTER’
 “What Leaders Really Do”

Article by John Kotter entitled, “What Leaders

Really Do” is one of the most effective pieces of
writing for determining where you stand in terms of
your role as a leader or manager of an organization.

It offers suggestions about what elements of

leadership you can further develop to make yourself
more beneficial to your organization.
 “What Leaders Really Do”

John Kotter suggests, one aspect of leadership is to

first expose the differences and similarities between
leaders and managers and indicates that leaders are
not rare people with exceptional charisma
necessarily.

Furthermore, there is no hierarchy that exists where

one is more important than the other.
 “What Leaders Really Do”

Instead, he states that these two roles should

compliment one another in their focus and that they
are different entities with differing roles in an
organization that are interdependent.
 Role of Leadership & Management

While many people can play roles as leaders in an

organization, it is the duty of management to help
guide the group through rough patches.

This involves leadership skills, leading can come

from beyond this managerial role from within
members of the organization who can be leaders in
the sense that they are open to changes and can
adapt and help others do the same.
 Change and Evolution

Since constant change and evolution are such

important parts of the success of an organization,
having a balance between the aligning influences of
the leaders in the organization and the management-
based duties of organization and assistance with
stability through the change, is vital.
 Over Management

With over-management, the “human" side of the

equation is lost, which is just as important as all of
the planning, charting, and organization involved on
the management side.

Near the beginning of the article “What Leaders

Really Do”, John Kotter states that most
corporations in the United States are “overmanaged
and underled."
 Over Management

This idea underscores many of the main ideas since,

if this assessment is correct, it means that many
organizations are not allowing managers and leaders
to work together,

 Instead favoring a less suitable arrangement where

it is the responsibility of management to handle all of
the tasks of organization and aligning people.
 Over Management

Many people in the organization can assume

leadership roles and in fact, by having more than one
official leadership position, change can be more
readily accepted and implemented.
Thank You 