Are you an Effective Manager?
Do you want to be a Leader?
A brief but not all-encompassing outline of the job specs of both Managers and Leaders is set out hereunder.
The Manager
Working within the constraints and resources of the business to deliver:
Performance.
Develop people skills.
Recruit the right people for the right jobs.
Increase productivity.
Motivate colleagues.
Conflict resolution.
Create a positive work atmosphere.
Problem solving.
Delegating.
The Leader
Creates the vision for the business.
Creates the New Opportunities.
Is an effective Communicator.
Is an effective Listener.
Is strong on Empathy and Emotional Intelligence.
Sets the Financial and Business Growth Goals.
Shapes the Hierarchical Structure.
Plans for Succession.
Empowers Others.
Inspires Others.
Builds the Culture i.e. “this is a great place to work”
Well that looks fairly straight forward or does it. In a nutshell Leaders lead, they lead people. On the other hand managers manage processes and deliver performance which is reviewed by leaders.
However you can’t have on without the other, Leadership and Management go hand in glove there is a significant overlap between both roles.
Leadership Skills have been universally recognised as a key ingredient of effective management. A good manager is by definition a leader. Equally, a good leader will also be a manager ref. John Adair & Action Centred Leadership.
Many people enter into a Leadership role within organisations because they are perceived as good and effective managers.
When they become Leaders they need to look at the business through a different lens to become great and visionary leaders, note the major descriptive step up from being good and effective as managers.
In their new roles they need to learn quickly and the chemistry needs to work when they encounter challenges between the delivery of the vision and the practical resources within the business.
Those new to Leadership and Management roles often find themselves in a place that can become isolated and lonely and they need to build effective teams that collaborate and communicate. This may require a major organisational cultural change, a new direction a different perspective to be invoked.
So what are the characteristics of an effective manager or a great leader?
When you consider this question, make up your own list now does it contain any of the following.
Awareness /Acknowledge others inputs.
Giving Recognition.
Maintaining Confidentiality.
Building Trust.
Being Fair.
Being Honest.
Being Humble.
Demonstrating Integrity.
Use the traits that you identify to develop your own manager/leadership brand and review it on a quarterly basis in line with your ongoing personal development plan.
Finally from a practical perspective try to imbed these traits into your engagement with your teams and ;
Be brave enough to admit that you made a mistake.
Acknowledge the contribution of others and say I am proud of you
Ask others for their opinion I would welcome your view
Build the sense of team by emphasising We
Give feedback say Thank you
Eliminate I from your vocabulary