Management vs Leadership

You need both to get results – but what comes first?

A business needs both management and leadership to thrive.

Management is about execution. Great managers (and great management systems) result in competent, productive people.

Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating - and maintaining! - passion, motivation, and focus.

A business that has both is firing on all cylinders. If either is lacking, it can create real headaches.

For example, a business with inspiring leadership but poor management might leave people untrained, unsure what specific tasks they are responsible for, or not clear on how their performance is being measured. In that situation, the more you motivate and inspire, the greater the odds you’ll get people running full speed in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, a business with great management but no leadership might meet your performance thresholds but will never exceed them. The best employees will be unlikely to stick around, choosing instead to work somewhere that feels more purposeful. At best, you’ll receive average to mediocre levels of effort, commitment, and heart.

What’s Getting in Your Way?

If the headaches in your business are from incorrect or ineffective actions, like:

• Missed deadlines or lack of accountability for results
• Frequent mistakes and re-work
• Processes are written down, but no one follows them
• Management is a bottleneck for questions and decisions
• Culture of blame and excuses instead of responsibility and ownership

It’s time to re-evaluate your management systems.

But if what you’re observing includes:

• A high level of apathy or indifference - the “that’s not my job” mentality
• Your team making decisions you don’t understand or don’t support your goals
• Lack of focus, or high levels of reactivity to every fire drill and false alarm
• Your team behaving in a way that is not congruent with your values

It’s time to ask yourself what kind of leader your team needs.

There are plenty of resources available to become a better manager and a better leader. I’m offering a 12-week management masterclass next month. If you’re experiencing any of the issues above, your personal and professional development in these areas will unlock a new level of performance for your team.

This Week’s Takeaway

As Andy Grove points out in High Output Management, if something is getting in the way of good work, there are two possibilities. One is that people don’t know how to do good work, and the other is that they know how but aren’t motivated.

Your business needs both management and leadership...

In which area do you most need to grow?

In this video I interview Lisa Alexandra, founder and owner of The Aura House about the importance of adaptation, learning from mistakes, building community and support, leading with patience, and more!

Feb 13th: Master Business Management. Without management, chaos replaces strategy.

This February, the 12-week Management Program opens! It’s a series of educational sessions to help hone your coordination, refine your management process, and keep you up-to-date on the best practices every great manager must master.

Learn more, and register here to get started.

Traction: By Geno Wickman

For anyone dealing with those all-to-familiar business challenges (slow growth, decision making, implementation, miscommunications), Traction offers practical strategies that can help. It focuses on six key areas of your business, providing simple yet effective ways to bring more clarity, growth, and focus to your work. If you're looking for a straightforward approach to streamline your business, this could be a useful read.

Check it out!

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