The Welsh Wire: Mary Jo Asmus, Aspire Collaborative Services LLC

What is leadership? How is it different than management?

“A lot of people think about leadership as the people part, the part where you lead people. Management is about managing things because you really can’t manage people,” says executive coach Mary Jo Asmus, founder and President of Aspire Collaborative Services LLC, speaking with Sheri Welsh on The Welsh Wire podcast. “You don’t lead things, you lead people. People are messy or complex. If you try to manage people you’re going to get into a heap of trouble.”

Mary Jo is an internationally-known writer, thought leader and consultant who has coached hundreds of successful executives to help them develop and hone their leadership skills. “What we find is that most individuals get put into their position because they’re very good at what they do,” she says. “They’re they’re good technically, maybe scientifically, and the people thing, which is what leadership is all about, may not necessarily come natural to them.”

She believes in the power of team feedback to help managers learn how to become leaders. “I think a team environment is a great way to do it because people will sort of feed off of each other and and get ideas from each other. But the trick is staying open to that feedback. It’s hard to get feedback in the midst of doing your busy work every day. It needs to be more intentional.”

Why is good leadership important? Because poor leaders have trouble attracting talent, Asmus says.

Listen to Sheri’s entire interview with Mary Jo Asmus.

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