It was Grace Margaret Hopper, the first woman to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral in the US Navy – who noted that “We don’t manage people, we manage things. We lead people.” In short, people cannot be effectively managed.
Leadership is a practiced balance of getting the right things to happen – and getting people to make them happen. It amounts to knowing what things must be accomplished and ensuring that the right people are in place with the necessary abilities and ultimately the will to succeed.
The goal of leadership for any organization is to achieve and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. And for that to happen the organization must be well-managed. This means that the organization is properly provisioned for the tasks it must undertake, specifically in terms of capital, people and systems resources. There are also less tangible things like meaning (or purpose) and reputation. A leader that fails to ensure that all of these factors are managed will struggle and probably fail.
Fortunately there is no shortage of tools or expert support available to assist in ensuring that any company is well-managed. There are experts with resources that can be applied to even the most daunting and complex problems that virtually any enterprise might face. It is no surprise that there are so many well-managed successful companies in the world today.
But what may be surprising are all the companies that are well-managed but still failing to achieve their potential – or just failing altogether.
The problem in those cases is leadership. When leaders mistakenly believe that people can be managed – over time they see performance falter. People work less hard and make more mistakes. Any alignment around a shared sense of purpose begins to deteriorate and both collaboration and cooperation are overtaken by friction. Innovation slows to a point where adaptation is no longer possible. And finally, talent either drains out of the organization faster than it can be replaced – or simply begins to rot in place. This illustrates what modern organizational dysfunction looks like.
The antidote for dysfunction is competence – or the ability engage our competencies, our knowledge, skill, talent and experience to accomplish things that are measurably meaningful and significant.
Competent leaders inspire exceptional performance in the people they lead.
They accomplish this by making learning and growth both necessary and possible in order for people to develop competence in the roles they perform.
Necessity and possibility are the result of conscientiousness and grit.
Conscientiousness is a function of understanding and connecting to one’s sense of purpose. It is rooted in the belief that your purpose in what you are doing is to serve something beyond your own personal needs and interests. When people have a powerful-enough sense of purpose they find the drive and strength to push themselves out of their comfort zones.
They get comfortable with the idea of being uncomfortable to go farther and push harder than they might otherwise have. They take the necessary risks that are inherent to any great accomplishment. The rewards are the deep sense of satisfaction and overwhelming joy we experience in those moments of accomplishment.
This is the foundation of leadership. It is inspiring people to take up a shared cause and empowering them to find meaning and joy in their lives through their contributions.
We fail people when we attempt to manage them. Instead of causing people to develop their competence we crush their spirit. Instead of insisting that people learn to solve problems – we order them to perform the solutions we deem fit. Instead of asking questions that spark curiosity and exploration – we provide the answers we want them to have. And rather than developing our people into exceptional performers – we instead make them less competent.
We must learn to lead others so that they understand that they must lead themselves.
We can manage the systems that grow knowledge, hone skills, develop and utilize peoples talents and honor and build upon their experience. We can improve the performance of our organizations while enhancing the quality of life and the level of joy in the world around us.
This is the source of reaching your potential as a leader. It is how you achieve the fullest possible satisfaction through your personal competence and accomplishments.
We must learn to manage things and lead people.
###
Phil Liebman is the Founder and CEO at ALPS Leadership – We Guide CEO’s and Their Leadership Teams to Become Exceptionally Competent Leaders and High-Performance Organizations
www.ALPSLeadership.com
Phil is also been a Group Chairman with Vistage Worldwide since 2005 – where he helps leaders realize their potential by learning with and from other leaders. He is the author of the soon-to-be published book, “Cultivating MoJo: How competent leaders inspire exceptional performance.”
