Leaders vs Managers

“We are all faced with great opportunities disguised as impossible situations. The key is to know where you are going and why.”

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Jean Erickson Walker, Ed.D., CMFjean@jeanericksonwalker.com

503-816-5956

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Functional differences

“The primary function of leadership is to create strategically directed change in order to achieve a vision worth achieving.

The primary function of management is to see that the goals and objectives required to implement this vision are accomplished.”

Learning to Lead, Warren Bennis & Joan Goldsmith

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“Leaders, I thought to myself, are individuals who make ordinary people do extraordinary things in the face of adversity.”

Andrew Grove, Intel

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The Leader’s focus

• Vision• Mission• Big picture/global view• Risk taking• Innovation• Customers• Opportunities

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Leaders as architects

• Visualize the unknown and make it real

• Motivate and persuade people to seek the future

• Comfortable with ambiguity and change

• Challenge = opportunity

• Enthusiasm/energy/quick decision maker

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Why leaders fail

1. Shift in focus2. Poor communication3. Risk aversion4. Ethics slip5. Poor self management6. Lost love

Why Leaders Fail, article by Mark Sanborn

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Command and Control?

“ Leaders resort to the Command and Control model when they are…..scared. That is: scared as hell that followers will figure out that they (the leaders) don’t have a clue as to what-the-hell-is-going-on.”

Great leaders on snorting steeds are important…but great talent developers are the bedrock of organizations that perform over the long haul.”

Tom Peters

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Why are some leaders more successful than others?

Ability to engage others in shared vision

Distinctive and compelling presence

Integrity; strong sense of values

Adaptive capacity; ability to transcendadversity and emerge stronger than before

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A vision must…

• Be worth reaching• Stretch us beyond our known limits• Require action• Match our values• Involve calculated risk• Engage our hearts and spirits

“ A vision creates an overpowering urge to soar among the eagles.”

Good to Great, Author, Jim Collins

“Leadership is about fearless resolve, an almost stoic

determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the

company great.”

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“Most losing organizations are over-managed and under-led. Their managers accomplish the wrong things beautifully and efficiently.

They climb the wrong walls.” Warren Bemis

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Managers vs Leaders

• Leaders take us to places we wouldn’t have gone alone; Managers ensure that we get there safely.

• Leaders walk ahead and see the future; Managers walk behind and “herd” us to the future.

“Leading is about why; Managing is about how.”

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The Manager’s Role and Focus

• Goals• Scope of responsibility• Short term objectives• Risk control• Efficiency• Employees• Organization/structure/process

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Unlock the key

“Managers play a vital and distinct role, a role that charismatic leaders and self-directed teams are incapable of playing.

The manager’s role is to reach inside each employee and release his unique talents into performance.”

First Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

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Managers are not just leaders-in-waiting

Great managers look inward;Great leaders look outward.

Great managers are not mini-executives waiting for leadership to be thrust upon them.

Great leaders are not simply managers who have developed sophistication.

The core activities of a manager and a leader are simply different.

First Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

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Managers as builders

• Understand and implement blueprints

• Identify potential obstacles and overcome them

• Make people feel safe

• Create clarity and structure

• Challenge = Conquer and solve

• Solid/stable/certain

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Managers provide

• Sense of community/ belonging• Learning and growth• Opportunity to become more/be

more/have more• Fun • Pride in accomplishment• Interesting work• Stability

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Why are some managers more successful than others?

• Create safe zone• Communicate clearly, effectively, often• Fair/consistent• Knowledgeable/a resource• Provide structure, processes,

clear direction• Likeable • Empathetic

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Managers of the future

From…..• Organizing tasks to setting outcomes• Hiring, firing to recruiting, retaining• Climbing ladders to owning careers• Command, control to creating cultures• Technical experts to resource managers• Hierarchy to strategic alliances• Doing to anticipating• Certainty to curiosity

“Never confuse process with progress.”

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Port in the storm

Managers succeed through other people. They are effective when people believe they are safe with them, and that they will be better off because they are there.

Managers create a gently flowing stream, a port in the storm.

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Wake up call?

“I wake up every morning determined both to change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning the day a little difficult.”

E.B. White

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Questions?• What personal qualities do I have that enable me to be

a successful leader? Effective manager?

• What are the elements of my personal style and personality that are challenges to being a successful leader? Effective manager?

• How do I encourage or sabotage my own leadership success? Management effectiveness?

• What are the resources that will help me to become more successful? How do I obtain them?

• Where is my natural talent?

• What portion of my time needs to be spent in each role?

Leaders and Managers

Ask Yourself:

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• Is it the right thing to do?• Is it fair to everyone?• Does it fit our mission and

goals?• Does it move us forward

We judge ourselves by our intentions; others judge us by our actions.

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Jean Erickson Walker, Ed.D., CMFjean@jeanericksonwalker.com