Dec 13, 2023
Doing more, and doing it better, faster and with less is driving
global business. A cadre of professional managers running
organisations is going the same way as the typing pool.
Organisations can no longer afford managers who only manage;
instead, they also need them to be leaders. This begs the question:
what is the difference between a manager and a leader?
Simply put, leaders build people and manage processes, while
managers just manage processes.
The organisation has various processes that must be completed
entirely, efficiently and reliably—the classic belief of “getting
the paperwork sorted”. Attention to detail is paramount.
Multi-tasking, time management, and personal effectiveness all
contribute to process success.
The manager must ensure these activities are being carried out
correctly and so the supervision of staff is key. If the operation
is not coordinated, then there is potential for chaos. However, it
is more likely we are dealing with inefficiencies and costly
delays.
The manager has to monitor worker’s activities to ensure priorities
are dealt with properly, the urgent is done first, the details are
correct, the sequence is in proper play and employees are working
correctly. The “mice” on the treadmill need to be present and
correct.
All this activity has to add up to planned outcomes, such as
numbers around revenue, production volumes, quality milestones,
speed of delivery, and consistency. The manager has to tally the
score against the score sheet, note discrepancies and get them
attended to promptly.
Whether the organisation is new or mature, the goal is to reach an
equilibrium between competing demands so that the organisation
moves forward in a planned and expected manner.
The goal is the maintenance of systems and the manager is the
maintainer.
All of this sounds wonderful. Yes, we want our brand to be
safeguarded, by ensuring everything is working properly, and our
salaries to be paid on time, thank you very much. The question is
whether this is enough?
We need our managers to be able to do all of this and more. The
ability to handle people, as well as getting everyone doing what
they should be doing, when they should be doing it, and how is a
critical skill.
The managerial role may seem mechanical, but those pesky people who
resist mechanisation keep popping up in the system. They have
personalities, ambitions, biases, demands, failings and strengths.
This big confusing mess of humanity under the manager’s control
needs to be led as well as managed. They are not a process!
Supervision is one level of interaction, but it is inherently
backward looking and historical in nature. Leaders, on the other
hand, are thinking about motivating people, looking forward and
trying to understand what makes each team member tick.
They are striving to align the goals of the organisation with the
inherent motivations of the individuals in their team, rather than
trying the approach of injecting the “motivation syringe” into
their heads. Leaders need to have a reservoir of trust and good
human relations skills to make this work.
Leaders are pointing people towards the future, not just reviewing
the past. They are working with the team to create a vision. This
may be a sub-vision of how to execute the organisation’s broader
vision, itself perhaps designed on high during a boozy directors’
offsite gathering. The section leader can’t change this lofty
vision but they can lead the team to conjure how to make it come to
life.
Even with the vision a given, there is still an opportunity to have
the team design a mini vision for their section or department under
the umbrella of the big picture.
The point is to lead people—using an innovation methodology—to an
outcome where there is shared ownership of what was created.
Leaders always keep in mind that people “own the world they
create”, so getting the team involved is a critical skill.
Leaders are not able to function in stasis. They know the
competition never sleeps and understand this is one marketplace and
its name is “global”.
The leader knows that incremental improvements may not be enough
and, instead, breakthroughs are needed and these come from the
people who work for us.
Does anyone remember a great thing called i-mode? Gone! Steve Jobs
leading the Apple team killed it off with an innovation.
Breakthroughs count and innovation is how to produce them.
Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group,
announced as a hoax on 1 April, 1986, that his firm had created a
supercomputer called Music Box, which would let anyone, anywhere
download any music they wanted.
Steve Jobs later told him that the idea inspired him, and Apple
ultimately created iTunes, which would put a big hole in music
stores’ business and directly impact Branson’s own Virgin
Megastores.
Virgin store managers who were “managing” a better process were not
much help when leaders somewhere in California put Virgin’s music
business to the sword. Innovation counts and this requires the
leader to tap into the team’s full power.
Change in organisations doesn’t happen by itself. The leaders must
get busy coaching their employees and ensure their skills are
constantly evolving.
Challenging them to go faster, further and higher is not simply
managing a process. Instead, it is igniting workplace enthusiasm to
ensure the team themselves want to be better.
The typists have all departed the typing pool and moved on.
Managers who can only manage processes are going the same way.
The modern business requirement is to be able to manage processes
and build your people. Businesses that are slow to recognise this
will be eating their competitors’ dust and wondering what
happened.