Leadership and Management of Details

Building a great contracting business requires the right balance of leadership and management.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
August 17, 2018 2 minute read
discipline leadership management wisdom
Share

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” - Peter Drucker

This quote or a variation often gets used to describe the difference between strategy and tactics; leadership and management.

Quote: The man in charge must concern himself with details. If he does not consider them important, neither will his subordinates. Yet the devil is in the details... Hyman G. Rickover

While it is possible to separate them the truth is that many of the top leaders are relentlessly disciplined managers.  Think:

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who is considered the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” was a relentless and disciplined manager.  He oversaw every detail of building out then operating a nuclear submarine fleet with a record of zero reactor accidents.  

Contractors have to put together many thousands of parts coming from hundreds of suppliers and subcontractors across dozens of projects each year operating on very thin margins with tight cash flow and major safety risks.  

Disciplined management is a key to sustainable growth.

Improve your management processes

5C Troubleshooting of Performance
Ask great questions around the five interrelated categories that cause most failures in outcomes or process, including choice, capabilities, capacity, controls, and the conditions in which all those occurred.
Related Article
Reflections on Learning to Ski - 8 Core Principles for Learning a Completely New Skill
While I am learning every day, it has been a very long time since I’ve put myself in the position of learning something completely new. That has now changed, as over the last couple of weeks of 2019, I learned to ski.
Related Article
Sharpening Your Thinking Through Writing
Contractors can learn many lessons from the leadership principles of Hyman G. Rickover who is considered the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” including safety, engineering, talent, management, schedules and quality control.
Related Article