The Performance Improvement Blog

Leadership vs. Management

“Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.” Warren Bennis gave us this catchy way to talk about the difference between leaders and managers. If only that difference was so clear in reality. Henry Mintzberg, that venerable scholar of management studies, author of the classic HBR article, The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact, wrote a recent opinion piece for BusinessWeek in which he argues that the captains of industry need to do more managing and less leading. He writes:

…what we've been calling a financial crisis is actually one of management. Corporate America has had too much of fancy leadership disconnected from plain old management… U.S. businesses now have too many leaders who are detached from the messy process of managing. So they don't know what's going on.

Bill George, in his latest book, 7 Lessons for Leading in a Crisis, cites many examples of CEOs who were successful in saving their companies from disaster (i.e., bankruptcy or worse) precisely because they left their C-suites and got into the trenches with managers and customers, found out what was going on, and then worked with their managers to solve problems. One example he describes is David Neeleman, former CEO of JetBlue, who took responsibility for his airline’s Valentine’s Day disaster two and a half years ago that nearly destroyed the company he founded. See the interview.

Neeleman did and interview with Matt Lauer in which the embattled leader owns the problem, says what his company has already done to correct the problem, and offers restitution to everyone who was stranded at an airport during the days that JetBlue grounded its planes. He was able to take these actions because he immediately went into the field with his managers to analyze the system failures and figure out solutions. Unfortunately for Neeleman, he saved the company but in so doing, lost his job (Go figure!).

There are times when leaders need to manage and managers need to lead. John Baldoni, in his latest book, Lead Your Boss: The Subtle Art of Managing Up, explains that at times even mid-level managers need to take on a leadership role and “speak truth to power”… if that is what is required for the good of the company.

Good management and good leadership are not much different. Mintzberg says that leadership is “management practiced well.” The recent crisis in auto companies and financial services firms provides many examples of leaders not managing well and managers not leading well.  They offer excuses (e.g., “I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time.”) without taking responsibility and they offer a different future while not doing anything fundamental to change the present.

Another Take on Leadership

It seems like a never ending debate: What are the competencies of an effective leader? Steve Tobak offers yet another take on leadership in his list of core competencies:  

Flexibility. Willingness to change direction, do what it takes, let go of personal agenda, and swallow pride, all for the greater good and the overall health of the business.

Honesty. Courage to look people - especially customers and authority figures - straight in the eye and tell them the genuine truth, regardless of consequences.

Leadership. This is not as complex or subjective as you might think. Leadership is the ability to encourage people to follow you, especially when they don’t have to.

Accountability. Willingness to take responsibility, own a problem, and be held accountable over the long haul, regardless of the risk.

Intelligence. Anybody who denies this is full of it. Everything else can be learned, but not this. Forget old notions of book smart versus street smart. You have to be both.

This is an interesting list from someone who has been in a number of top leadership positions. However, I don’t agree with Tobak that everything besides “intelligence” is learnable, at least not by the kind of structured leadership development programs typical in business today. All of these competencies, if not learned very early in life, have to be shaped over time, from many experiences, and with much feedback from mentors, coaches, and co-workers followed by personal awareness and reflection.

An example of someone who exhibits these competencies and the long struggle (out of necessity) to become an effective leader is Jeff Benes. On August 25^th, as part of his radio show “The Story”™, Dick Gordon interviewed Benes, who is part owner and CEO of the North Carolina company Catalyst Manufacturing Services. Benes exemplifies the competencies identified by Tobak, but his path to success was bumpy and difficult. Benes’ story is probably not going to become a Harvard Business Case or be featured in Fortune, but it is a story that demonstrates some of the best values in business management and leadership. Not learned from an MBA program or from attending leadership workshops, his competencies were learned from trial and error in real world experiences over time by observing his world and with much support from others.

Culture, Values, and Empathy

Our national leaders need a little Psychology 101. They seem to be lacking an understanding of basic human behavior. During the recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, some of the senators said they wanted judges who “set aside personal biases and prejudices to decide cases in an impartial manner.” Even more stringent, they implied that they wanted judges who were not influenced by their culture and values and were devoid of empathy. Apparently, they don’t want human beings on the Supreme Court. It’s not possible for people to form opinions, legal or otherwise, without being influenced by culture and values, and empathy is an essential characteristic of any competent leader.

President Obama, in responding to questions from Business Week about his leadership, said: 

…my most important job is to get the right people in the right place, give them the freedom to innovate and to think creatively about problems, hold them accountable for results, and make sure that they are cooperating with each other and communicating with each other on an ongoing basis.

So far, so good. But then he goes on to say:

I've always insisted on making sure we are equipping ourselves with the best evidence, the best data, the best information, that it's real-time, and that we don't ignore information just because it's not convenient or doesn't conform with what our working hypothesis might have been. We're constantly trying to make sure we're open to changing our minds about issues.

He, too, seems to want super-human staff. All people tend to ignore information that doesn’t conform to the way they view the world. This is part of being human. So Obama has a huge task ahead of him if he wants himself and his staff to behave differently.

All people form opinions and make decisions within the framework of a personal world view that is shaped by culture and values, and what information they choose to ignore and what information they choose to accept. The challenge for leaders is to embrace this aspect of themselves and to be continually aware of how values and beliefs are affecting their decisions.

If You Want Recognition, Ask For It

I’ve posted previously about the critically important employee-boss/supervisor relationship in employee learning and development. This alliance is one of five key factors in achieving business results from any learning intervention (See "5As" webinars listed on this blog.). Responsibility for forming and maintaining this alliance is shared by both the employee and boss/supervisor. If employees wait until their bosses give them the feedback they need, they might wait forever. Sometimes employees must take the lead on this. Steve Roesler makes this point in his blog post: Performance Speaks for Itself, But Not at Work. He writes:

Employees at all levels beg for recognition. Managers get paid to manage (which includes develop and grow) their employees. But for some reason, many of the same managers who value performance don't acknowledge it. The result: Their stars look for another stage where their managerial audience will pay attention to the show… Here's the reality: you have to promote your career and your performance. It's organizationally astute to keep a list of your specific contributions and remind your manager periodically of your aspirations and accomplishments.

Employees are reluctant to initiate these conversations. A common refrain I hear from employees in many different organizations is, “My boss doesn’t appreciate what I do for this company.”  This might be true and it’s unfortunate. However, if employees want to be appreciate, they may have to start these conversations. This is especially true now with many organizations cutting to the bone and managers doing the jobs that two or three managers did before the economic downturn. In this environment, bosses will pay attention to squeaky wheels and postpone giving feedback to high performing employees. This is a mistake – everybody needs recognition and reinforcing success is just as important as improving areas of weakness.

Best Leadership Blogs

It's not easy sorting through millions of blogs to find the few that are worth our valuable time. Some help with this has been provided by The Ken Eikenberry Group. They are conducting the “3^rd annual Best of Leadership Blogs” competition and have narrowed the list down to 10. You can vote for your favorite at: http://kevineikenberry.com/surveys/best_blogs_09.asp  The list includes:

Leading Blog by Michael McKinney

Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy

Seth Godin’s Blogby Seth Godin

Jon Gordon’s Blog by Jon Gordon

Leadership is a Verb by John Bishop

All Things Workplaceby Steve Roesler

Work Matters by Bob Sutton

Leader Talk by Becky Robinson

Next Level Blogby Scott Eblin

Leadership At Workby John Baldoni

I would add Sean Murray’s RealTime Leadership blog to this list, but that’s just me. What leadership blogs would you put on this list of the best?

The State of Trust

It’s hard to have trust in anyone these days. Governors John Edwards, Elliott Spitzer, Rod Blagojevich, and Mark Sanford all violated the trust of their States.  The senior leadership of AIG, GM, Chrylser, Bear Stearns, Bank of America, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac all violated the trust of their employees, shareholders, and customers. And the 65 billion dollar Madoff-Ponzi scheme has shocked the world and made us suspicious of all private investors. According to the 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in institutions has declined in the U.S. and around the globe. The report states:

This year, the world had more reasons than ever before to suspend its trust—and for the most part, our data reflect this. Nearly two in three informed publics—62% of 25-to-64-year-olds surveyed in 20 countries—say they trust corporations less now than they did a year ago. When it comes to being distrusted, business is not alone. Globally, trust in business, media, and government is half-empty; and trust in government scores even lower than trust in business.

Without trust in their institutions and leaders, people everywhere will stop using these companies and stop listening to government officials and captains of industry. This will make everyone’s job more difficult and threaten the very existence of these organizations. Much of commerce depends on trust and leaders who can build trust. Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust, says that leaders can't be effective unless they have the trust of their employees and customers. He writes:

The first job of any leader is to inspire trust. Trust is confidence born of two dimensions: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, motive, and intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, skills, results, and track record. Both dimensions are vital.

Trust can be restored, but it will take hardwork, time, and a commitment to telling the truth and communicating frequently and clearly with all stakeholders. Sean Murray offers specific suggestions for building trust in an organization. I think these behaviors boil down to three simple things that will go a long way toward building trust: 1) tell the truth; 2) do what you said you would do; 3) treat everyone fairly (Sounds a lot like what I learned in Kindergarten.). However, these behaviors don’t mean much if you don’t communicate; let everyone know what you’ve done to earn their trust.

How Leaders Learn

Learning is not a solitary activity, especially for high performing leaders. John Baldoni, in an article for HarvardBusiness.com titled Never Let Your Ego Stop You from Learning, describes how people like Shaquille O’Neil (basketball) and Jim Collins (management guru) who are at the top of their professional games have sought the help of teachers to improve their abilities in areas in which they want to perform at a higher level. Baldoni writes:

Most often you cannot receive more schooling, especially when dealing with critical issues that are fast-breaking and in which there is no body of formalized instruction. You will need to figure things out for yourself. For most leaders figuring things out is second nature; it is way they have arrived in positions of leadership. But the best leaders are those that are never afraid to ask questions. Rather than a question being a sign of ignorance; it is admission ticket to learning as well as a good way to build rapport and trust with colleagues.

The best leaders know that to achieve excellence they must have interaction with people who can help them clarify their thinking, give them performance feedback, and challenge them to continuously improve. This can be a trusted co-worker, a mentor, or a leadership coach. Whoever it is, we need someone to ask us tough questions that will challenge our thinking, get us outside our comfort zone, and help us adopt new, more effective ways of doing things.