One public sector chief executive described leadership as a contact sport. This is a slap in the face to those of us whose management style is more about cooperation rather than confrontation. Boxers talk about imposing themselves on their opponents, the use of controlled aggression,having the right people in your corner and we talk of people and organisations punching above their weight. Maybe that's what he meant but my objection to the "noble art"is that the aim is to hurt people, the ultimate aim being the knock out blow, this doesn't seem appropriate for the public sector! Perhaps the contact sport he was thinking of was American Football at least that is a team game, involves specialist roles and is very strategic, even if size and brute force seem to play a large part in achieving success. I thing wrestling would be a better analogy for this type of leadership. Tag wrestling in particular involves frantic activity in a confined space, choreographed moves, pantomime villains, dubious decisions , a lot of noise from observers and a sense that the outcome was know in advance.
www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
