Both the coach and the manager made a fundamental mistake: They both acted like players or employees rather than the person in charge. This is understandable since the coach had been an all star linebacker and the manager was an engineering whiz. But once they assumed the mantle of management they forgot the first rule of management: managers do not do, they enable. Management today is a process of providing the help and the resources to others to enable them to do their jobs. What the coach and manager did occurs all too often in all too many organizations worldwide. Managers think like employees instead of as managers. The results are worse than cuts and burnout, they are often the cause of lower production, weak performance, poor morale and career burnout. Often the heart of the problem lies with a manager not understanding his job. After all, he was promoted into management by doing whatever he was good at. The head coach was a former All Pro player and good defensive coordinator; the manager was gifted engineer with a talent for problem solving and creative thinking. Somewhere along the line neither received the development he needed to become a manager. This shortcoming occurs far too often. Men and women are trust into management positions for which they are ill prepared and the results can be disastrous. There are so many managers that we take for granted what they do. But becoming a manager is a huge leap of faith. It requires a letting go of everything you have been doing in order to move into a role that requires you help others do what you have been doing. Instead of being an engineer, graphic artist, or reporter, you become a chief engineer, creative director, or editor. Those are important positions requiring management responsibilities. You have to think and do differently. There is one element of management that we have not discussed: leadership. It’s been said often that manager administer, leaders inspire. This is true, but you cannot really be effective unless you do both. Managers must incorporate elements of leadership into their managerial practice. The most important of which is a sense of personal leadership; that is, the feeling that “I can make a positive difference.” From that mindset, or really character framework, springs the sense of leading others. Leadership itself is about doing what is right and good for individuals and the organization. It is about moving people forward to a better place. This does not mean that leaders are pie in the sky softies. Leaders, like managers, will make hard decisions about people issues: hiring, job assignments, promotions, and of course, terminations. They must also look over the horizon at what is coming next. But, most importantly, leaders lead from a people point of view, helping people do their work and in the process achieve their potential. You really cannot have effective leadership without effective management. And often the reverse is true. Managers should aspire to lead, and leaders should respect the discipline of management because ultimately leadership is about results. And that’s the same as management.
Tags: coach, doing, leaders, leadership, management, manager, managers, people
