Management or Leadership?

Are your managers leaders? Google ‘management vs leadership’. Its an age old debate, a constant comparison, a topic of focus in people development that is as old as the hills. And your google search will reflect this, with over 1.1 billion search results! If you have ever been through any type of leadership development or have any interest in the area you will be aware of the typical lists and tables you will find – ‘Management is process, leadership is people’ or ‘Management is instructing, leadership is inspiring’. At the extreme you will find headings such as ‘What great leaders do that managers fear so much’.

It is all very separate, divided and seemingly incompatible. Lowly Management ends up being vilified when in the presence of esteemed Leadership. But what is reality? How do managers feel when thinking about their management practice? (Or their leadership practice?) I have worked with managers from companies across several industries, and see the questions that are raised when we have the management vs leadership debate. I think it is healthier for managers not to label their practice, and to see these ‘separate’ skills/concepts as one.

The truth is that most managers I work with are in a difficult situation. People who are sent on management training are often in what is unfortunately called ‘middle management’. This means they have reporting lines in to them, but are very far from the true power of the executive level. They often feel frustrated about how they are being managed and their relationship with their own boss. They want to know why they are not being well managed! But while it is easy as middle management to focus on your own manager, I always challenge managers to rather focus on their people in their teams. 

So how do middle managers see themselves within this management/leadership context? We surveyed managers in South African businesses and had over 54 respondents. The telling statistic? 35 of these managers said that their teams were not operating optimally, and of these 35 only 5 said that they were part of the reason that their team was underperforming.

Only 15% took any accountability for their team’s underperformance! This is an incredible statistic, and brings me back to the management vs leadership debate. I like to emphasise that a manager is a leader as I mentioned earlier, however if only 15% of our managers are taking accountability for poor performance, I wonder if they are leaders?

Leadership (with all its countless definitions) has to be taking accountability as a most basic premise. So then many of the managers we entrust teams to fail at this fundamental first hurdle. 

How we set up managers for this position of responsibility needs a rethink. How we prepare them for their role, how we train them and develop them in their role needs a rethink. People operate from their ‘story’ – the set of beliefs and assumptions that they have about themselves, the role and everything that impacts it. If their story is limiting, they will operate from a limited place, and not lead.

The key for middle management is to help them unblock their story, and see themselves as leaders in their business. What is the story that your manager’s have about their role?