Warning: This statement will be dismissed.
But, before you do that, I’d ask you to consider the differences between ‘organizational business management’ and ‘political campaigning’. I will try to avoid a value judgment. Just invite you to consider the differences and your mind may do the rest.
Warning 2: my ‘political campaigning’ is modelled on Obama’s.
Warning 3: what follows is inevitable caricature and extreme; if you play lots of ‘yes but’, you’ll get bored soon.
- Business management, largely, has one message for all: an homogenous mission, vision and directions. Political campaigning is highly segmented; a 60 year old retiring does not get the same message as a 23 year old seeking employment.
- Business management tends to be quite obsessed with ‘alignment’ Political campaigning is comfortable with hosting many motivations.
- Business management talks a lot. Political campaigning talks a lot as well, but acts more. Their people are called act-ivists for a reason.
- Political campaigning is very time limited. Business management is a piece of string.
- Political campaigning understands and masters (social) influence. Business management has a narrow view of influence, largely hierarchical (and when it does accept that there are other types of influence in the organization, it doesn’t quite know what to do with them).
- Business management thrives in formal structures. Political campaigning focuses on grassroots.
- Business management emphasises ‘people engagement’. Political campaigning emphasises ‘people mobilization’.
- Business management is vertical (communications, command). Political campaigning is horizontal, transversal, peer-to-peer, tribal.
- Business management goes to Harvard. Political campaigning goes to campaign headquarters.
- In business management, bad management is not meeting targets. In political campaigning, the opposite of winning is being defeated.
I’ll let you cook this.
For me, the title of this Daily Thought shows my cards. But you don’t have to agree.
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In his powerful new book, Leandro challenges many leadership norms and is not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions. Camino – Leadership Notes on the Road, a leadership journey in 300+ stops is available from Amazon and all major online retailers. [1] Download Chapter extracts and order your copy here [1].
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Dr Leandro Herrero is the CEO and Chief Organization Architect of The Chalfont Project [2], an international firm of organizational architects. He is the pioneer of Viral Change™, a people Mobilizing Platform, a methodology that delivers large scale behavioural and cultural change in organizations, which creates lasting capacity for changeability.
Dr Herrero is also an Executive Fellow at the Centre for the Future of Organization, Drucker School of Management.
An international speaker, Dr Herrero is regularly invited to speak at global conferences and corporate events. To invite Leandro to speak at your conference or business event contact: The Chalfont Project [3] or email: [email protected]. [4]