Leaders can delegate efficiency, yet they have to be responsible for effectiveness. Leaders dwell on the why and the purpose, while managers dwell on the how, the process. An effective organization needs plenty of managers as well as leaders. But leadership and managerial outlooks are often different and sometimes clash. Leaders recognize the inevitability of conflict, partisan conflict, ideological conflict, and conflict among firms, nations, religions, and tribes.
Leaders appreciate that conflict often has to be expressed as a means to some desired end.
Leaders do not shy away from conflict, they shape it and turn it to the advantage of their organizations. They exploit it, indeed, often welcome it as a chance to reorganize, reshape, and renew their organizations. Leaders trust their intuitions. They know they cannot understand everything, and they recognize the role of intuition, hunch, and soft data. Finally, leaders are relentlessly optimistic.