Let’s tackle the difference between leadership and management first.
Leadership is about influence and relationships. When the leadership level is high, the leader is able to cast the vision, set the strategy and because of the leader’s influence, the followers follow. If the leadership ability is low, the followers look to the leader for answers to questions before proceeding. High-level Leaders look beyond current expectations and boundaries and take risks to initiate change.
Management is about making the leader’s vision happen. Managers influence people to accomplish the vision of the leader. Managers work hard to get others to do things.
As CEO of Life Options, when the staff would ask questions, I would give them the answer and go on my merry way. This worked well when there were only two staff and one building. I was not leading, I was managing.
The more the organization grew, the more questions I answered. With 11 brilliant paid staff, 60 volunteers, two clinics and a mobile clinic, answering questions became a full time job.
When I began applying leadership principles, things really changed. When my staff would ask a question, instead of the easy way of telling them the answer, I would ask them a question back:
“What do you think we could do?”
“What do you think a good solution would be?”
“How do you think we should handle that?”
If it was a legal or medical question which of which I didn’t know the answer, I would ask them if they knew who to call or email to get the right answer. At first, I suffered control freak withdrawals and my staff wondered where their old boss went (big smiley face here.)
I had already set a standard for excellence and they knew that was expected. Because I had always given them answers, they didn’t really trust themselves with solutions. As we continued with this new way of problem solving, they knew I was going to answer their question with a question. They thought of the solution before they came to talk to me. The conversations were more like this;
“Hey, I have this challenge and this is what I thought would be a good solution.” More often than not, my staff began to come up with the best answer. They began to take on more responsibility and became more efficient at their jobs. The bonus? Sometimes, they had better ideas than I would have ever thought of!!! AND I got my life back.
Do you see the difference? Whether you are a Mom, CEO, teacher or business owner–you have people that you want to influence and lead. My seed for this week is watch how you interact with those you influence. Do you lead or manage?
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