An often debated and analyzed question is the difference between the role of a manager and a leader. I would claim that both must include portions of each, and the roles are rather a continuum than a stark division. The leader’s key role is envisioning the future and the manager’s is focusing on executing that vision, but leaders must also be able to execute, and managers to envision. It’s all about shifting emphasis, which can be good news for leadership development.
As managers are more focused on execution, and getting things done through their team members, I insist that the two core skills for a manager are always performance management and employee development. The right way to identify developmental priorities is to do a competency analysis, but I assure you, these two core competencies will be there. Performance management would include skills like goal setting, informal feedback, coaching, corrective dialogues and evaluating performance. Goal setting also means the ability to link the vision and the organizational goals to the day-to-day work of the team members. Employee development encompasses interviewing skills, career dialogues, development planning and coaching. Just having these two fundamentals covered guarantees a solid management base for execution. The other competencies vary based on organization culture and strategic priorities.
Leadership is all about change. Great leaders must be able to envision the future and articulate it with clarity so that the vision is so compelling that they can rally the troops to support the strategic moves that are critical for the organization. To be able to envision the future, they have to be comfortable with a certain level of ambiguity and willing to take calculated risks. The execution piece is still there: They must know how to manage the organization culture and its processes to guarantee that the results are met.
Whether it’s the leader or the manager, they must continuously build their functional, operational and business acumen to earn and maintain their credibility. Complexity increases as they climb the management ladder.
Many companies struggle with their middle management development. This is the twilight zone where both management and leadership skills are required. It is the testing ground on who will make it to the highest levels of leadership. Middle managers must balance both short term execution and long term change leadership priorities, while demands and complexity are increasing for them. They must get very good at the management fundamentals while starting to adapt to the higher level leadership skills.
It’s not a question of management OR leadership, it’s a question of how much of each. Which management and leadership competencies are important in your organization?
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