Leaders vs. Managers - Who Drives Change?

John Kotter famously wrote "They don't make plans; they don't solve problems; they don't even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it"

My experience tells me this is 100% true. Anytime an organization is about to do something new, hard, or risky - it is imperative that strong leaders are in place to help steer the ship through potentially stormy seas.

One key word here is the concept of alignment - a favorite term of mine is "explicit alignment"! That is when you need to ensure you have agreement across an organization as to what is being planned and executed. This concept requires the following:

1. Patient Leaders - If you are ever in this role, be ready to have the same conversation over and over again with a lot of stakeholders. You will feel like a broken record. Not everyone will agree with you right away, some stakeholders will require multiple discussions to drive agreement on your change activity.
2. A Vision to Point To - When a change leader inside a company can point to a CEO or C-Suite vision, it makes their life a heck of a lot easier. This can help win over naysayers, and also get people onboard quicker. It can also hope build the important coalition that Kotter often refers to in his work.
3. Inspiration - A change program can be messy. People will need to be inspired to listen to the leader. A strong leader will need to appeal to people's sense of belonging and the desire to improve the status quo.
4. Backbone - At some point, the leader will have to stand up against those not on board with a change plan. They need to be willing to have the hard conversations and utilize indirect influencing when there is a cancer on the project. The saying "one bad apple can spoil the whole darn bunch" is true - and it can be devastating to a change project.

Simply put, leaders are the ones who can hep you transition into the future. Managers help you execute the status quo. Both are necessary for an organization to be successful, but when it comes time to drive change - look for leadership!

Source : What Leaders Really Do, John Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 2001