Leadership vs. management: At PBI, we don't obsess over the difference between leadership and management. First, we say that leadership is more about vision and management is about execution. Then, we look at them from a "follower's perspective." Followers ask of leaders: "Is this the group that can figure out where we need to go? Is this the group that can help us get there?" Those become both the expectations as well as the "scorecard" that followers use to evaluate their leaders. For managers, it's a different set of expectations and scorecard: "Are they fair? Are they consistent?"

The leader's role: Leaders define the vision for the organization and the path to get there. We hope this is done in an inclusive manner with all major voices represented in the discussion. Leaders also help shape the culture – by their words, their actions, what they choose to focus on and support, and what they avoid. Finally, leaders guide the organization with their philosophy and decisions – targets to pursue, application of resources to plans/initiatives, etc.

Experiental learning: Our leadership and management development work draws heavily on the experience of the students and coachees. Participants are asked to think about that leader or manager they would follow anywhere and identify "What did they say or do? What did they not say or not do?" From that, we create a template of desired leadership traits and behaviors which come from a personal and emotional connection and are in the context of our client organization.