Do you lead or do you manage?
Think of someone you admire in the business world and look at their successes. What qualities do they display? You may only see one or two of their qualities, but you can be sure that they will have strong behavioural qualities in many other areas.
Take Richard Branson, famous for a wide range of enterprises from airplanes to music to financial services. Branson’s creative vision, desire to challenge conventional thinking and passion for customer value have led to the Virgin brand image being one of the most powerful in the world. In challenging standard business practices by putting employees first, customers second and shareholders third in the pecking order of importance, Branson has endeared himself to those who work with him, for him and against him!
It is often said that good leaders are born and not made but how much of this is true? Strong leaders generally display certain skills which have an impact upon the people they meet. They believe in effectively communicating with all people, appreciate the power of teamwork, pay attention to individuals and display a strong, visible personal commitment.
In terms of their own personal characteristics they are often charismatic and energetic. They also display a strong self-knowledge, clear vision, and a keen focus on objectives. In addition, many display high levels of courage, integrity and respect. Overall, they have passion for what they do. So, it’s unlikely that they are born – most leaders simply have a vision of what they want to achieve, where they want to be and know how to get there. It’s much more likely that they develop with the help of others or are coached along the way.
Tom Peters, the management consultant and guru, encapsulated a simple approach, alien to many large businesses in the form of MBWA – managing by walking about. Strong leaders will perform this function regularly to ensure that they are fully up to speed with issues surrounding innovations, customers and employees generally.
It’s easy to forget that there are valuable traits in managing generally that are not always displayed by strong leaders. A manager is usually very strong on the principle of control (especially financial control) as well as processes and administration. Leaders have a tendency to avoid administration and managing resources.
Maybe the ideal is a strong leader with management qualities or a good manager who recognises leadership characteristics!
This is a guest post by Steve Burnside from the Centre for People Development, a CMI approved centre.
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Comments
This is another one of those posts that divides the world into "leaders" which are good and "managers" which are not so good. Supervisors don't even rate a mention.
Let's be clear. Supervision and management and leadership are kinds of work. Everyone responsible for the performance of a group has to do all three kinds. We call those people bosses or team leaders because that's their position.
It seems that if you paid more attention to what effective bosses need to do to be effective you'd have better luck in helping others reach similar levels of performance.
As Warren Bennis said
* The manager administers; the leader innovates.
* The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
* The manager maintains; the leader develops.
* The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
* The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
* The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
* The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
* The manager has an eye always on the bottom line; the leader has an eye on the horizon.
* The manager imitates; the leader originates.
* The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
* The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his own person.
* The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.
'Some great Leaders would be able to lead people right over the cliff, but, if they don’t also focus on what needs to be delivered they exist in total chaos.' Equally managing tasks well with no idea where you are going isn't going to work well either!
There is no doubt that some people have good leadership skills but lack good management skills (and I subscribe to the view that supervision is part and parcel of management skills). Equally some good managers lack leadership skills. The best people have a rounded mix of both sets of skills.
The importance therefore is to train everyone in both aspects.
That doesn't mean you can make someone with good management skills a world class leader or vice versa. It does mean, however, that they can be provided with tools that will help them in their areas of weakness.
There was research a while back by the DTI that suggested that inspirational leaders were not necessarily 'charismatic'. This has been updated with work carried out by the CMI for the DTI. You can read this piece on inspirational leadership here:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file10989.pdf