Manager and leader are terms that are used interchangeably by many people. I see a manager as someone who oversees, co-ordinates, directs and controls the activities of others. To be an effective manager, you must have at least some leadership qualities to begin with. On the other hand, leaders aren't necessarily in a management role. I see leaders as agents of change, who pull, drive and motivate people to new directions and achievements. A company needs both effective managers and leaders, and many times these are different people with different skill sets and qualities. You don't necessarily want to change effective managers who are doing what they are good at, but leadership qualities can help managers become better at what they do.
Here are three key steps to follow:
- Read a book – One book that I read 20 years ago lives with me today: Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. The "human relations principles" taught are essential to leadership at any level.
- Share your passion and vision for the future – One of my favourite quotes is from Sociable author Shane Gibson: "If you think you're a leader and no one is following, you're just going for a walk." To lead, you have to tell people where you are taking them. What are the benefits for the company and, most importantly, the benefits for them when they get there?
- Learn what inspires your team – Once you've shared your vision and have your team excited, get them to do the same. Knowing what gets each team member excited helps leader help them fulfil those dreams, and they will in turn help you fulfil yours.
There is significant debate as to whether being a manager is the same thing as being a leader.
Management involves organizing projects and activities around deadlines and time frames to deliver results; leadership is about motivating and inspiring people to take positive action to deliver results.
Managers are regularly called upon to serve in leadership roles, and leaders are called upon to serve in management roles.
And these days, coaching and training all employees how to be successful leaders is needed now more than ever to thrive in a tough and uncertain economy.
Successful leadership requires three critical behaviours.
First, good leaders help others answer five simple questions: What is the issue? What is the current situation? What do you want or what is your ideal outcome? What options do you have? What will you do and by when?
Second, leaders hold others accountable for delivering results by asking the "Five W" questions: What did you set out to do? What happened? Why did it happen? (Probe for successes or failures openly and with honesty.) What will you do next time? What are you going to do and by when?
Lastly, strong leaders set an example for others to follow. They listen first and listen 80% of the time to build trust. They honour all commitments and deliver results. And they show respect and never say anything negative about anyone.
The key to helping turn managers into leaders is to ensure the process you use is simple and easy to implement; you can always layer on complexity later. Here's a five-step approach for starting down the path of developing your managers into leaders:
Mentors – Ask your managers which mentors or leaders in their life have inspired them to grow beyond what they thought was possible. What were the characteristics these mentors or leaders displayed?
Legacy – Considering the characteristics of the inspiring leaders in their lives, ask the managers what legacy they would like to leave behind as a leader.
360 – Using your company's survey tool, complete a 360-degree review of the managers. If you don't have a tool in place you can use Survey Monkey to ask these three simple questions: What does the manager do too much of? Not enough of? What do they do just the right amount of?
Gaps – Taking the legacy description and the results of the 360, work with the managers to uncover their blind spots and gaps in their leadership abilities. These become the target areas for improvement.
Development – Provide managers with development opportunities in the form of special projects, leadership development programs, books and courses tied to their development needs, and coaching and mentoring, in support of the gaps and blind spots they need to overcome. Starting with the end in mind and then working out a personalized plan for each of your managers that deals directly with their needs ensures that they're receiving the right tools at the right time to help them grow from managers to leaders.
