MANAGING LEADERS IN YOUR ORGANISATION

LEADERS chart the terrain of an organisation, while managers find the right footwear, the safest avenues and the goods to sustain staff and get them where they need to go, according to one of Queensland’s most successful executives.

Macarthur Coal chief executive Nicole Hollows (pictured) points out that leaders are agenda setters and while managers do not set the direction, they ‘show the way and get you there’.

Speaking at a recent Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) event on the Gold Coast, Hollows shared some of her experiences at the ASX-listed coal mining giant.

Chartering her own career when she started as an accountant 13 years ago, Hollows pinpointed what she defined as differences between the two roles within an organisation.

“Leaders are guided by their values and base their vision on those values and what they believe in and how to make it work,” she says.

“Leaders are also accountable and also hold other people accountable. Actions speak louder than words.

When leaders get knocked down, not only will they have to get up again, but bring with them a level of resilience – and bring everyone with them.”

Leaders, she says, are presented on every level within a company and it’s vital for each and every corporate to source people who portray characteristics of leadership and nurture them.

“Leaders enable others. They also have to delegate and trust people; give latitude to people. And leaders have perspective,”
says Hollows.

Not all leaders have all of these qualities, but will demonstrate at least ‘two or three of them’, while a manger may have ‘one
or two’.

“You cultivate success with the development of talent and the culture of leadership,” she says.