Managing or Leading?
When (and how) you need to do both
Managing and leading often get confused with one another or are used interchangeably. While they are not the same, they are not mutually exclusive either. In fact, they are complementary to each other.
Managers are the builders and they direct performance. They are concerned with how things get done and they focus on designing and controlling the day-to-day work. In order to do so, they create a sense of order and organization to the tactical work that their teams need to complete. Leaders are the architects and they inspire performance. They are concerned with what things mean to people and they focus on creating a common vision of the future. In order to do so, they create a sense of movement and direction for their teams to strive towards. The combination is where high performing teams are created.
We often rely only upon management skills because they feel more immediate and seem more time sensitive. The problem with this is that managing then focuses on the present, giving us quick fixes rather than sustainable ones. When we lose sight of our leadership skills, we do not set ourselves up for long-term growth, innovation, and engagement. On the other hand, when we solely rely on our leadership skills, key details and quality can slip in the present, impacting our team's effectiveness and ultimately job satisfaction and engagement. So it’s not about the either/or.
Both managing and leading can be hard. Managing can be hard when you're managing through tight deadlines and performance issues. Leading can be hard when making difficult decisions around the direction of a company, team, or even individual (think lay-offs).
While both skills require vulnerability, self-sacrifice, and stress management, managing and leading are different tools that we need to know which (and when and how) to leverage. And if we do not use both of these tools available to us, then we are not going to be able to be effective leaders at any level in an organization.
Knowing when to leverage each of these tools can be the hardest skill to learn. But we’re here to help. Here are some key questions to ask yourself:
Should I be a builder or an architect right now?
Do I need a quick fix or a long fix?
What will the ripple effects of my approach be?
What do my people need from me right now?
What do they need from me in order to develop and grow?
And knowing how to leverage management and leadership skills can be explored through our L.A.U.N.C.H. journey.
