Leading Big (is not like leading small)

My good buddy Dave Dishman (Regional Leadership in CO) sent me me this article from Mark McKloskey dealing with leading big. I read this a number of years ago (I think) but at the time I was thinking in terms of leading a large number of people. It is interesting to me how I can read it now and think it terms of leading large numbers of divergent movements that we do not get to control.
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Eight Ways Leading Big is Not Leading Small Or Beware the Prayer of Jabez
Mark McCloskey (12-13-2001)

There is a point where a difference in degree gives way to a difference in kind

1. The Scope – Focus Continuum. It is less about being a specialist and more about being an executive, cultural architect. It is less about a part of the movement and more about the whole. It is about living and leading with the burden of the whole.

2. The Impact – Time Frame Continuum. It is less about accomplishing yearly goals and more about leaving a legacy by building a movement. It is about living and leading with the burden of the future whole.

3. The Simplicity – Complexity Continuum. It is less about “keeping things simple,” and more about the pursuit of a powerful simplicity that provides clarity and traction on the other side of complexity. It is about managing chaos and moving ahead in the midst of perplexity, confusion, multiple options and parallel processes. It is about living and leading with the complexity of the whole.

4. Making Unity in Diversity Happen. It is less about dealing with those just like me, and more about forging partnerships with those not like me and most importantly, leaders not like me. It is about living and leading with conflicting demands and sharp differences, even among those who share your vision and core values.

5. Setting the Standards. It is less about telling others what to do and more about educating the movement as to what is fixed and what is flexible, what is negotiable and what is not. It is about living and leading while being in charge without being in control.

6. Ultimate Accountability. It is less about public and private accountability for my own actions (though this is still vitally important) and more about public accountability not only for my own actions, but also for organizational outcomes beyond my ability to control and the actions of people over whom I have little or no control. It is about living and leading with the “injustice” of answering for the actions of others.

7. Majoring in Critical Mass. It is less about making sure the strategies are well run (critical path) and more about focusing on the systems and processes, which accelerate the development of critical mass and provide for the welfare of the future of the movement. It is about living and leading with a view toward answering the question, “What can I, and only I, do as a leader that serves the future whole of the movement?”

• Money is the mother of all tools. With money the doors to other tools open.
• Secondary tools involve the tools money can buy.

8. The Distance – Impact Continuum. (Projection of Leadership) It is less about being everywhere and knowing everyone and more about leading and connecting with others not in your direct sphere of influence through strategic modeling, personal and public integrity, and generally a life lived authentically in public witness to the vision and core values. While those who lead big do not necessarily have higher levels of integrity, they do depend on it more. It is about living and leading with a view toward managing one’s limited time and energy such that more may be influenced from a distance rather than a few from close in.