“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~Winston Churchill

This post has been sitting in my draft box for quite some time now. Honestly, I find it hard to ‘bounce-back’ coming from almost two weeks of sickness. Work filed up, and tons of commitment needing my immediate attention. Again, I feel the need to rise-up to this occasion and take charge, and I think that is how good business leaders will do. They consider setbacks, failures, and frustrations as allies. These do not discourage them, but rather they rise to the occasion. They put their hands, heads, and hearts to the tasks until they accomplished their objectives. Who would forget Winston Churchill, ‘who brought England to its finest hour’ and put an end to World War 2 with his resiliency when the other nations’ leaders failed to act to stop the Nazis: Never give in –never , never, never, never, never…never give in! Or when he addressed the British people in a BBC radio broadcast (February 1941) and at the same time sending his message to the American political leaders of that time: We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire…Give us the tools and we will finish the job. The rest is history.

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I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.

If you give people tools, [and they use] their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected. ~Bill Gates

Inseparability of Leadership and Management

I have always argued that you cannot take leadership apart from business management. While leadership and management are two distinct functions, they are in fact inseparable. A good manager is almost always a good leader, vis a vis a good leader is a good manager.

Many management authors still uphold the separation of the two, or make one a part of the other. Take for example this online article: The Difference Between a Manager and a Leader:

Leadership is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. Care must be taken in distinguishing between the two concepts. The main aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this, managers must undertake the following functions: organization, planning, staffing, directing, and controlling. Leadership is just one important component of the directing function. A manager cannot just be a leader; he also needs formal authority to be effective

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“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution, which rejects progress, is the cemetery. “~Harold Wilson

My consulting takes me sometimes to organizations that seem to love the status quo. They will cling to it, fight for it, and drown anyone who tries to rock their boat. It is not easy. My role is made even more difficult by the fact that I am usually being hired in order to look into this status quo and initiate changes.

Organizational Change

I normally ask; why these things are being done this way? Alternatively, why does the system go that way and not the other way? The typical answers I get: Well, you have to admit that things are as they are. Followed by a frowned forehead and shrug of a shoulder. Why do people react that way? For the last 5 years, that continues to puzzle me. No matter how prepared you are to preclude objections and have clarified your objectives, people will naturally resist change.

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The Demand

In part, it may or can contribute to a successful career, but never a guarantee. However, if you want to grab the opportunities below, you might want to consider getting an MBA degree.

“The demand for marketing, advertising, promotions and public relations managers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2012.” -U.S. Department of Labor’s 2004-05 Occupational Outlook Handbook

The MBA Advantage

For those of us who are pursuing careers in these fields, this is a good time to consider an MBA degree. While, as I asserted, MBA degree is no guarantee, it can however give you an edge over other employees or candidates for managerial positions. In fact, some companies would require managerial candidates to get a graduate degree to qualify for a management office.

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