Created 07/08/2011 07:30:14 AM

Dr. Bishop has offered an interesting comparison between the managers and the leaders in terms of making and managing the change (2002). He has considered a set of certain tasks accomplished by the managers and the leaders. The managers create incremental change, but the leaders make transformational change. The differentiating factor is vision. The managers do not deal necessarily with visions, but the leaders promote visions and lead the followers to reach those visions.

According to Joel Barker, a leader is someone you choose to follow to a place you wouldn't want to go to on your own (Meredith, 2005). A vision leads us to that place and a leader is an artist who draws such a vision. Leadership has two components: Leadership is not position - it's action, and it's about the wise use of power.

Bishop (2001) believes that transformation reaches right down to the fundamentals of the organization—what it is, what it does, how it does it. It doesn’t change everything; no change does that. But it does change enough so that it looks like a new or transformed organization. Leaders are those who promote fundamental change.

References:

Meredith, M. (2005). Growing Your Leadership Skills, IBM Global Services Institute, pp. 1-22.

Bishop, P. (2001). Change Management, Unit 12 Reader: LMSF 602, Regent University.

Bishop, P. (2002). The Power of Vision: Leaders acting to influence the future, Studies of the Future, University of Houston-Clear Lake, pp. 1-19.