Great leaders understand that historical success tends to produce stable and inwardly focused organizations, and these outfits, in turn, reinforce a feeling of contentment with the status quo.
Managers are trained to make incremental, programmatic improvements. They aren't trained to lead large-scale change.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the difference between management and leadership, highlighting that managers often focus on small, systematic changes rather than driving significant transformations.
John P. Kotter's quote points out a critical distinction in organizational dynamics: while managers are skilled in overseeing day-to-day operations and making gradual improvements, they often lack the training or ability to initiate and lead substantial changes that are necessary for evolution and progress within an organization. This suggests that effective leadership requires a different set of skills that goes beyond traditional management practices.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a business seminar discussing the importance of leadership in times of change.
More from John P. Kotter
All quotes βWe are always creating new tools and techniques to help people, but the fundamental framework is remarkably resilient, which means it must have something to do with the nature of organizations or human nature.
Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we are going to have to try to become much more skilled at creating leaders.
Outsiders have the intuitive ability to continually view problems in fresh ways and to identify ineffective practices and traditions.
Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.
Many years ago, I think I got my first insight on how an incredibly diverse team can work together and do astonishing things, and not just misunderstand each other and fight.
Similar quotes
Leadership flows from inner character and integrity of ambition, which inspires others to lend themselves to your organization's mission.
Leadership is the self-confidence of working with people smarter than you.
There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible.
Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.
Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.
Achieving vulnerability-based trust (where team members have overcome their need for invulnerability) is difficult because in the course of career advancement and education, most successful people learn to be competitive with their peers, and protective of their reputations. It is a challenge for them to turn those instincts off for the good of the team, but that is exactly what is required.