Letters
While I agree with Antony Oliver's view (NCE 30 March) that macho, seat of the pants, command and control approaches will not do in the modern world, the suggestion that a leader is someone who practises such a style of management warrants further consideration.
To me leadership is all about knowing where we are now, having a vision of where we can be and then inspiring all to get from one to the other.
Leadership is an art - a compound of personality, values (integrity, honesty, responsibility) commitment and communication. The science of management on the other hand is about getting things done; it involves among other things: priorities, timescales, programmes, resources and communication.
Leadership and management complement each other - both are essential in organisations.
Complaints about poor pay have occupied the letters of NCE for as long as I have been reading it (15 years) and are often accompanied by requests to the Institution to resolve the problem.
It does not work that way for me. My route to more money is to improve the service and value that I provide; self development, CPD and doing things differently - stepping out of my box.
Dave Stitt (M), dave.stitt@wates.co.uk
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