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A popular school of thought suggests that when running an organization, one should lead rather than manage. We actually need to do both; and there is a clear distinction between the two concepts. We manage processes, systems and processes, while we lead people.
My definition of leadership is to be consistently visible in communicating our passion and commitment to our vision for the company, organization, department or project, while ensuring we understand why people might not be able to follow our leadership and implementing ways to help them do so.
Allow me to dissect that.
Being consistently visible communicating our passion and commitment to our vision means that we first must have a vision; people won’t know where to go or what to do if we aren’t clear on the vision. If we as leaders are not seen as committed beyond the “let’s go get ‘em” kickoff speech, the team will likely pay lip service, knowing we have or soon will have forgotten about the vision and have moved on. We cannot delegate leadership, like we can management.
Ensuring we understand why people might not be able to follow our leadership and implementing ways to help them do so, means we help people, rather than blame them for not following. Maybe they are too comfortable in the status quo to be willing to follow. Maybe they are willing but have too much on their plate to follow. Maybe we have too much history of changing direction to have people believe in our commitment. We need to ensure people understand where we are going, know how to follow, and that they understand What Is In It For Them (WIFFM)!
By the way, my definition of Management is Planning, Organizing, Implementing, Measuring and Adjusting; but that is the subject of another blog. Just understand when it comes to Leading and Managing, we need to do both.
By Bob Dodge
