My career started out with me being a minister in a local church. I discovered a lot of things in those early days about leadership and the principles of organization. One thing that I noticed about people is that it is very difficult to make someone do what needs to be done when they do not want to do it. The old axiom, “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink” holds true when dealing with people.

Most small business and non-profit leaders focus on leadership to the exclusion of any teaching on management and how to build systems. They use phrases like, “I’m not a micro-manager” as though that is a valid excuse not to pay attention to the lack of systems or management in their organization or business. 

However, if you want your business to grow, you need to focus on being both a leader and a manager! In today’s blog post, I am going to share with you ways you can transform your leadership skills to include management as well!

Advance Your Leadership: The Leader Manager Hybrid

Leader

First, let’s define what a leader is. A leader concentrates more on people than on work. They move people out of the limits of the traditional and enable people to move into new areas of activity and achievement. They do this, not by direct control, but through the relationship they have with their employees. A leader is transformational.

One person said leadership is essentially a “relationship between individuals; that is, between the leader and every member o the group he leads.” Leadership inspires people. It makes them want to work. 

Manager 

Now, let’s define a manager. A manager concentrates more on work than on people and operates within established patterns and practices. They get the job done by directing and guiding the work of others within the limits of those practices. A manager is transactional. 

Management provides the means for stability, know-how, and sound planning in an organization. It enables people to reach the objectives inspired by leadership.

Leadership Without Management

Let us consider what happens if you offer your people either leadership or management, but not both. If you provide only leadership, the morale of the group will be high for a while, but without direction, people lose sight of the objective and go off on tangents. They fail to move and head together toward the organization’s goals. They might be working very hard, but nothing really happens.

The members of the organization feel that something is wrong. They are not getting anywhere. They need someone to coordinate their work. We all know people who have real leadership qualities but possess little management ability. People love them but only for a while. They generate dozens of new ideas. But they lack the discipline to bring them to completion. Before one idea is executed they are off to another one. 

Management Without Leadership

Now, let us look at management without leadership. When there is all management and no leadership, then morale is destroyed. You can organize to the ultimate and provide a plethora of plans and well-engineered programs but without leadership, the effort is wasted. People require inspirational motivation in order to continue doing work well.

If your employees aren’t feeling that their emotional needs are being met by a manager, they will begin to look for someone else to take charge.

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Do you identify more as a leader or as a manager? Let me know in the comments below! I identify more as a manager because I am am effective at creating systems and procedures. I had to work at growing my leadership skills. Do you have a specific topic you’d like me to cover surrounding leadership?