Leading versus Doing
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” — Andrew Carnegie.
As a former executive and as a business consultant I have worked with many companies and their leadership.
Outside of my professional work, I have also been involved with a variety of social and business organizations. In all of this involvement, I have observed how those “leading” the companies or organizations act. I put the word leading in quotes, because in many instances those individuals were wonderful doers, but were far from being either good or great leaders,
That does not make them bad people. Most if not all, are good people who want to see the best for the people they are supposed to lead. However, they have leadership completely wrong and in doing so, create issues for both their group and for themselves.
In companies, people who are very good at doing jobs are often promoted to be managers or leaders.
While they are excellent at doing things themselves, they are not very good when it comes to directing others to get things done. Invariably they do the tasks themselves because they feel that is the easier road to take. And when they do so, they turn off those they are to manage or lead and most if not every action falls on them.
In clubs or volunteer organizations, people are selected or elected to “leadership” positions not necessarily based on their skills, but on their likeability. They are friendly and want to see the organization progress. But as in corporations, they are good at doing, but not leading. As with those in companies, they do things on their own. When others offer to help, they tell them that they are taking care of it. After a while people stop offering and the “leader” becomes overwhelmed doing everything by themselves. They then start to complain about not getting the help, the thing they previously turned down multiple times.
In my Project Management (PM) class, I instruct the participants that as managers it is not their job to do anything except manage their teams and get them to complete whatever needs to be done.
When they start a project, each team member knows what they are expected to do and signs off on it. The PM then makes sure that they get their work done. If anything becomes a roadblock to the individual getting his or her work completed, the manager works to remove the roadblock.
That is what effective mangers do. Leaders create the vision of what needs to be done, lay out a plan to do it and keep the troops motivated, especially if any issues arise. That is a fulltime job. They are relying on those they lead to use their skills to complete whatever is needed. And in addition to motivating the team, they are working to provide skills training to members in order to create new leaders, following the same principles and actions.
We see this happen in sports quite often.
A star player retires and tries to go into coaching. While they exceled at playing their position, they are not good at coaching others to be close to the player they were. Ted Williams, probably the best hitter in the history of major league baseball was a horrible manager. While he had such a natural ability to hit baseballs, he was unable to impart his skills and knowledge to his players, And, he became frustrated when they could not perform to his abilities.
Many of the great managers and coaches in sports were not great or even good players. But they know the fundamentals of the game and how to impart this knowledge to the players in their charge. They have the ability to bond with their players and know how to make so- so players good and good players great. And it is not based on what they accomplished while playing the game, but how to get others to perform.
The same applies to business or other organizations. It is not how much an individual has done or accomplished as a worker, but how to get the best out of those in their charge.
“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Where does that leave us?
For starters, we who are choosing who to manage or lead us should be looking beyond how good they are at what they do and consider how well they will do in their new role. This can be done by asking the following questions:
· Has this person ever led anything? If so, how did they do?
· Has the person ever managed others, or have they always been managed by others?
· How well does this person work with others? Do they evoke a team mentality or are they more like individual contributors?
· Has this person ever worked out of his or her boundaries? Are they looking to achieve more, not just as an individual, but as a team?
· What is this person doing to improve or add new skills? Are they taking courses or attending programs on management or leadership?
· Is this person content with the role they are in and the type of work they are doing or are they looking for more? If so, what more are they looking for?
· Has this person ever expressed a desire to lead people? If so, what actually did they say about this?
By answering these questions, you are looking past competency in the current position towards a new role and future for the individual. But even that should not be enough to move them into a new role. You can try them out by giving them some assignments that puts them in a manger’s role without making them a manager.
Give them a small project to run where they are responsible not just for the work they do, but for that of a team. Mentor them during that time and see how they act. They won’t be perfect at what they are doing but if they show an aptitude, give them a next project.
Allow them to take courses in management and leadership. See what their reaction is to this. Is it something that gets them excited for more or are they so-so about the experiences? Their attitude will tell a lot about how they will perform.
Then, when you really feel that they are ready, promote them into their new role.
Even with everything you did, they may not succeed in becoming a good manager. But the chances of success are far greater than the previous action of promoting them because they perform well at their current job.
In regard to social or volunteer organizations, it may be more difficult to find and name a good leader. In these situations, popularity seems to be the name of the game and those who are the most popular with the group tend to become the “leader”, even if they are not equipped or capable to be so.
That does not mean all is lost. If there are choices to be made, look for the person who has leadership or managerial experience. If they have already been in such a position, it gives you a better chance of getting someone with the requisite skills. Ideally, you do not want someone who has never led anything but wants to give it a try. Chances are they will not do a good job and because of their popularity they may be hard to remove once settled in their new position.
On the other side of the coin, those who wish to become managers and / or leaders should show initiative to becoming such.
That means that they need to work beyond their current jobs and expertise and develop managerial skills.
They should be volunteering to run projects and teams. They should be taking courses in Management and Leadership. They should be seeking out mentors to help in guide them in becoming managers.
And once they become a named manger they need to work in that role and not fall back to what they were comfortable with. If they cannot do that they should be satisfied to stay within their area of expertise. There is nothing wrong with that and they can still have a very fulfilling career.
In regard to social or volunteer organizations, too often people with no leadership experience “feel” that they can do the job, even if they have no clue what it entails. If you are able to dissuade them from “trying it out”, do so. Perhaps if they serve in another capacity that will suit you both and avoid any organization crises.
There is an old saying: “Them that can does. Them that can’t teach. Them that can do neither, manage.” That saying does not have to be true. Managers have to come from somewhere. They do not just appear from nowhere. While it is true that some people just have the natural skills to lead or manage, many do not and must be groomed.
But that does not mean that everyone is a possibility to do that. And again, that is not a bad thing. Having all workers and no managers or all managers and no workers is not a good thing. There needs to be a good mix of both. What is important is that the right people be in the right positions. Otherwise, trouble will indeed ensue.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter H. Christian was a founding partner and president of espi, a business consulting firm in Northeastern PA. Previously he was an Executive at Crayola Corporation. He has worked with 300+ clients in business development, profit improvement, operations, IS selection and implementation, and Project Management. He has 40+ years of experience in strategic and facility planning, CI, lean, and supply chain. He has helped companies to realize millions of dollars in cost reductions and profit improvements adding and retaining thousands of jobs. He has authored the Amazon bestselling business books, “What About the Vermin Problem?” and “Influences and Influencers” (4 out of 4 star review on Online Bookclub) and is published in a variety of professional magazines. He is most appreciative of Dr. Rodney Ridley and Donald Schalk of the O’Pake Institute, Alvernia University for their support in allowing him to teach this important course
