Leaders, not managers, are needed to release the brainpower and
know-how of our greatest asset-our members.

Photo: ©Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C.

Leadership, we are told, is the secret to success in any organization, from the smallest Masonic Lodge or Scottish Rite Center to the greatest international corporations. But defining exactly what makes a great leader is the problem. Managers and leaders are not necessarily the same thing, a fact we too often fail to recognize.

As a nation, we are one of the best managed on the face of the planet. When it comes to leaders, however, we have much to learn. We have a generation of managers who are trained to keep things as they are and thus preserve the system. Leadership, on the other hand, requires creating what isn't, something new, something beyond the system. By definition, that means taking risks. Leaders are risk takers.The focus of most managers is to maintain the status quo. The focus of most leaders is to disrupt it in the search for a better way. Leaders think outside of the box. That's the sort of thinking that creates dynamic teams and clear objectives from organizational charts that were already old when the first shot was fired in the industrial revolution. That's the sort of thinking that flattens the organizational pyramid, forcing out non-producing levels and shifting responsibility squarely to those doing the work. Leaders understand the value of self-management and self-motivation.

• Managers have employees. Leaders have followers.
• Managers command and control. Leaders empower and inspire.
• Managers seek stability. Leaders seek flexibility.
• Managers make decisions and solve problems. Leaders set directions and then empower and enable followers to make their own decisions and solve their own problems.
• Managers accept the organizational structure and culture. Leaders look for a better way.

The real issue facing Freemasonry today is how to release the brainpower, the know-how, of our greatest asset-our members. Managers, even the very good ones, do not know how to do that very well. Leaders do.

To do these things will require more than fundamental management skills. We need individuals who are not just competent but who have character. The challenge is where will we find them and how will we recognize them? The leaders we need will have several characteristics in common. If you look closely, you'll find they share these attributes.

1. Leaders have vision. They know where they want their organization to be in the future. And they have the ability to communicate that vision to others. Without that ability, they are not leaders-just dreamers.

2. Leaders have integrity. They must have an absolute dedication to doing what they know is right. General Norman Schwartzkoft summed it up: "If it ever came to a choice between compromising my moral principles and the performance of my duties, I know I'd go with my principles." Without integrity, you can't lead because no one will follow.

3. Leaders understand trust, and they know it works both ways. A leader must be trustworthy, and, at the same time, trust his or her people.

4. Leaders have commitment. Today, there is decreasing loyalty among employees. Now, more than ever, leaders must be seen to be caring and nurturing. They must be committed in order to gain the loyalty they need for success.

There are other characteristics required, and each has its place-a sense of humor, the willingness to listen, the willingness to take risks, a personal presence or visibility. And one more quality is needed. A leader must be tough with an inner strength tempered by character.

The essential difference between managers and leaders is that managers have a general unwillingness to lead. They may know in their hearts what must be done, but they are not willing to make the tough, often unpopular and risky decisions. Most managers will do the politically expedient thing, rather than what is morally correct.

Leaders, not managers, are the ones who will write the new rules for America. And leaders, not managers, are needed to give life and direction to Freemasonry today.

William H. "Skip" Boyer has been writing since he was three. His mother objected to crayon on the walls, however, and set his career back several years. A member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Phoenix, Arizona, he serves as Master of Paradise Valley Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29. A native of Nebraska, he is Director of Executive Communications for Best Western International and serves as the company's Executive Producer and Senior Writer. He is a fifth-generation Master Mason. Photo: Focus Pocus, Phoenix, Arizona