Are you Managing or Leading Your Business ... or both?

These are just some thoughts to start off the week, but first, let's get something straight right out of the gate. Both Managing and Leading are Vital to successfully grow an Organization... but they are NOT the same thing.

Some Leaders are naturally strong Managers; "getting people to do what they did yesterday faster and cheaper" (Seth Godin) and others are very capable Leaders; "not being in charge, but taking care of those in your charge." (Simon Sinek). John Maxwell describes Leadership as "influence, nothing more, nothing less." When things go good, healthy Leaders instinctively give away the credit but when things go bad, they take all of the responsibility.

The question is: Are we Leading our Business (spending energy on my ability to influence and increasing my employees abilities to influence) ... or Managing it (getting people to move faster, cutting cost, increasing margins)?

What does Leading my Organization look like?

1. Investing time, energy and resources into growing myself (you cannot give what you do not have)

2. Creating a Clear, Common, Compelling task (the 3 C's) for everyone to work towards (vision and goals)

3. Clarity on "Why this Organization exists." Many Businesses fail because Team Members have differing opinions/definitions on why they are there. For example, in one of my Businesses, I've made it very clear to my Team that "We Exist to Solve Transportation Problems." This is the North Star to everything that we do.

So what does Managing my Organization look like?

Jim collins said it this way: "the whole purpose of systems and structures (which, again, are Vital I might add) is to help normal people who behave in normal ways to complete routine tasks successfully, day after day."

Management focusses on policies, procedures, bottom line, power and control and is typically reactive and quite often stifles creativity. It is very challenging to encourage creativity in a business when employees are locked into policies and procedures that have little flexibility.

Leading my Organization has a different approach.

Leaders put their Team first by tackling questions like:

"How can I put my Employees in roles where they can make the most positive impact? What resources do they need? What obstacles can I eliminate?"

Strong Leadership will motivate and inspire people by satisfying basic human needs for achievement, provide a sense of belonging, recognition and a feeling of control over their life.

The reality is that the world is changing RAPIDLY and as the world becomes more and more complex, a Leader's effectiveness will depend on the quality of relationships that he or she has developed. Successful Leaders today need to have the ability to build relationships with people they may disagree with in order to get as many diverse opinions as possible.

"Some people may be very good at specific fields like accounting and finance, for example, but if they can't effectively listen and communicate their knowledge to their employees who come in with different perspectives and knowledge bases, then it's hard to make an impact as a Leader." Mary Barra (CEO Detroit Auto Makers)

On a scale from 1-10, where do you rank yourself as a Manager? As a Leader?

This is a very important question to ask yourself because we are all naturally geared towards one or the other and we all feel that the one that we instinctively practice is the most significant. The truth is.... that's just not true.

Here's a knowledge bomb: (and this comment is 100% based on real life experiences).

Many people are promoted into Leadership roles because they have strong managerial skills. They are excellent in their field; whether it be sales, repairing cars, or even skiing down a hill. Because of their abilities and successes, it is naturally assumed that they should and could Lead a Team to their level. That is not always the case.

So, to start off this week, ask yourself "what I am doing to intentionally grow myself? What opportunities can I give to encourage the Leaders in my organization to grow themselves? And finally, just have a Fantastic Week because tomorrow is the first day of Spring!