Lead and Manage

There has been a lot of debate, about the value of leadership versus management. In researching this article, I found many comparisons that disparage managers (fixed mindset, authoritative, detached) in order to reinforce qualities of good leadership (open mindset, empowering, inspirational.)

These arguments have been outdated for a long time. I prefer the perspective from the article “What Leaders Really Do,” first published in 1990 by Harvard Business School professor John Kotter. He proposes that management and leadership are different but complementary. Both are needed in balance for business and personal success. Let's dig in.

Kotter suggests many companies are 'over managed and under led,' but the opposite extreme is no better. When it comes to preparing people for executive jobs, companies should try to develop 'leader-managers.' When companies understand the differences between leadership and management, they can value and groom people to embrace both.

Management is about coping with complexity. Good management brings consistency and order that delivers better quality, value, and profits. It embraces incremental improvement.

Leadership, by contrast, is about recognizing, preparing for, and delivering change in uncertainty. It values the transformation needed to take advantage of market, technological, and other systemic shifts.

Kotter highlights 3 key differences:

1. Management = Planning and Budgeting; Leadership = Setting a Direction
2. Management = Organizing and Staffing; Leadership = Aligning
3. Management = Controlling and Problem Solving; Leadership = Motivating

Because they are less understood, let's define each leadership characteristic.

Setting a direction is about embracing new ideas and adapting to evolving circumstances. Leaders gather a broad range of data and look for patterns and relationships that help explain things. It involves exhaustive, broad-based thinking and the ability to take risks. The output is not plans, but vision and strategies. These describe a business, product, or culture in terms of what it should become over the long term and a feasible way to achieve this outcome. They create constraints for the planning process and focus planning on the most important activities.

Aligning has the objective of getting people moving toward a common outcome. It is a communications challenge rather than an organizational design problem. It is about getting many people to understand, support, and work toward your vision of an alternative future, regardless of management structure or formal reporting relationships. It involves creating informal relationships with and between anyone who can help implement the vision and strategies or who might block them. Leaders must create ways to empower and resolve conflicts with subordinates, bosses, peers, staff across the organization, and external suppliers, regulatory authorities, and customers so that they understand and act to implement the vision.

Motivating is about energizing people to overcome obstacles they will inevitably face as they work toward the future vision. This is done by "satisfying basic human needs for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-esteem, a feeling of control over one’s life, and the ability to live up to one’s ideals. Such feelings touch us deeply and elicit a powerful response." Tactics to do this include making messaging relevant to each individual; involving others in decisions; creating constructive feedback mechanisms; and modeling, recognizing, and rewarding the right behaviors.

So, how can businesses create a culture with people who are leader-managers? Kotter emphasizes a few key approaches:

• Give emerging talent early opportunities to practice leadership. Create challenging opportunities for relatively young employees.
• Create development plans that include training and developing both management and leadership skills. Review these regularly and provide feedback and coaching.
• Recognize and reward senior executives who successfully develop leaders. "When told that future promotions will depend to some degree on their ability to nurture leaders, even people who say that leadership cannot be developed somehow find ways to do it."

How do you prepare for what's next while maximizing the returns from current initiatives, products, and services? Can you see how #StrategyOS integrates both?

I dive deeper into how to integrate leadership and management into your organization in this article.

May you find Passion, Joy, and Freedom in all your pursuits.