7 Things Great Leaders Always Do (But Mere Managers Always Fear)
Are you a great leader or just a mere
manager? Here's how to tell the difference.
When I think about the difference between great leaders and mere managers, I think back to a day when I
put my foot in my mouth.
I was working as a lawyer for a giant
government bureaucracy then. One of my bosses had a fancy title, but everyone
referred to him simply as a "manager." One day, he was grumbling a
bit about his role. He was caught in a sort of bureaucratic no man's
land--uninvolved in the big policy decisions, but also no longer doing the fun
part of our work (trying cases in court).
Without thinking, I said something
like, "That's why I'd never want your job. Just because they call
someone a manager doesn't mean they get to be a leader."
This was a pretty stupid thing for me to say,
but I still think my point was right. In some organizations, almost anyone can
get promoted to management if they put in the time and play the right politics.
Instead of trying to become a mere manager, therefore, why not aspire to become a great
leader? Here are a few of the key differences:
1. A great leader connects daily work with great goals. A
mere manager focuses only on the short-term.
It's easy to get caught focusing on things
that are urgent, rather than important. A mere manager
spends most energy on the daily grind, and harangues his people for not
achieving short-term goals, regardless of their long-term importance.
A truly great leader on the other hand, could
hardly care less about
TPS reports, or whatever the equivalent is in his or her
workplace (and probably has to work to hide his or her contempt for such
bureaucratic goofiness). What matters most to him or her--it is what truly
matters most.
2. A great leader thinks of people as people. A mere
manager sees only titles or organizational charts.
If you catch yourself referring to people on
your team by their job titles as often as by their names, beware--you're on the
road to becoming more of a manager than a leader. A real leader thinks of
people individually and holistically, and tries hard to understand strengths
and weaknesses, goals and interests.
I saw this all too often in the military, for
example, where great leaders grew to know their soldiers, and lesser leaders
referred to them generically, either by their ranks or occupational
specialties. There might be nothing less humanizing than to hear an officer
refer to his troops as a bunch of "11-Bang-Bangs" (slang for
"11-Bravo," which is in turn the bureaucratic designation for an
infantry soldier).
3. A great leader wants to earn respect. A mere manager
wants to be liked.
Great leaders aren't always the most likable
people. In the long run, great leaders recognize that their job is to get
people to do things the might not want to do, in order to achieve goals they
want to achieve.
Contrast that with "mere managers,"
who either want to be liked or try to convince themselves that they don't
care. Great leaders know that cordiality is necessary, but also that they
might sometimes have to sacrifice short-term likability in favor of long-term
respect.
4. A real leader is thrilled when team members achieve
great things. A mere manager is threatened.
In the grand scheme of things, a mere manager
doesn't have much. He or she hasn't aspired to enough in life, and has taken on
a bureaucratic role. Yet that's all he or she has, and as a result, the fear of
losing it can be overwhelming. Thus, when a team member outgrows her role, a
manager worries first about being outshone.
A true leader, on the other hand, takes his
or her team members' accomplishments as a point of pride, and recognizes that
the mark of a great leader isn't creating followers--but instead developing
other leaders.
5. A great leader empowers people with honesty and
transparency. A mere manager parcels out information as if it costs him
personally.
We've all seen likely this issue firsthand. A
great leader understand that all else being equal, transparency shows respect
for your team and helps them do good work.
A mere manager, however, fears that sharing
information can be tantamount to giving up leverage. So he or she holds cards
close to the vest--and undermines the team's performance in the process.
6. A great leader understands that if the team falls
short, he is responsible. A mere manager blames the team.
Once more, it all comes down to fear. A mere
manager hasn't actually earned anyone's respect, and so he or she is constantly
afraid of losing power. If the team doesn't accomplish its goals, the mere
manager is primarily concerned about losing his or her role on an
organizational chart.
A true leader, on the other hand, recognizes
that no matter why the team falls short, he or she is to blame. Even if he or
she believes that a specific team member might have been the cause, the true
leaders shoulders the blame and spurs the team to do better.
7. A great leader cares mainly about results. A mere
manager is more concerned with process.
To be fair, some organizations' management
positions are designed to protect processes, not to empower people. Still, if
you're reading this, I'm going to assume that we have something in common, and
that this kind of role holds little appeal for you. Seriously, who cares about
process when the results are positive?
You might also realize that this puts you in
the minority of leaders. Regardless, the main rule that a true leader lives by
is that it's better to
be resourceful, and that it's always easier to get
forgiveness than permission.
BY Bill Murphy
Jr. http://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/7-things-great-leaders-always-do-but-mere-managers-always-fear.html?cid=em01016week18a
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