4 mins read
Every manager in today’s business world at all levels is faced with dilemmas. The dilemma is not in your control as a manager or leader but HOW to resolve it is a choice you make. Majority of managers resolve it in favor of ‘managing well’ as opposed to ‘leading well’. Consequently, though they may show that they have managed the situation, when looked upon through a leadership lens, they have missed a scoring opportunity to up their leadership score.
Let me explain!
To make it practical & relatable and not just theoretical jabber, let me take some real-life situations that I have observed in my experience working with leaders. I am sure many managers often face similar situations and can relate to them in their experience as managers.
I intend to use these situations as illustrations to present to you the context, the choice manager made, and highlight the opportunity they missed. That could have helped the manager score as a leader while still managing the situation well operationally.
Situation #01: An experienced well-performing team member has been part of the project team for many years and delivering well. Customer satisfaction for this resource’s tasks has remained high without any complaints or escalations during the entire tenure. Having served for many years, this resource now comes across an opportunity in the form of another project where s/he can experience applying skills in a different context and grow professionally.
Manager’s Decision: However, the manager declined the request for the release of this person from the existing project. The manager’s mindset was to protect the project from disruption, saving from escalation from the customer side. S/he was uncertain of finding an equally good, experienced resource as replacement quickly enough. He used the power of position to decline the release.
Without a release, the resource felt helpless against the decision power of the manager, felt stuck, and could not take the new opportunity for growth.
The outcome from the Manager’s perspective: Though the manager may be feeling a bit of unease for declining the opportunity to the person but on the other hand very satisfied that in the role of a project manager, which is the main job, the situation is well managed by avoiding any disruption. In summary, according to managers’ and superiors’ perspectives, the situation is ‘managed’ well.
Missed opportunity: However, if you see the situation from a leadership lens, individual was denied an opportunity for growth which is primary goal of leaders. This choice by manager could be widespread impact if it is the culture of the organization. Resources do not feel autonomy and freedom for their professional growth and career. They learn such behaviors & practice it when they become managers. This is unhealthy leadership mindset.
Situation #02: A new project manager replaced an outgoing project manager in an ongoing project. Given the project was ongoing there were multiple moving parts which was quite a challenge for the project manager to catch up to and start playing the role effectively.
Manager’s Decision: Although the project was not in red and not with any potential severe risks but to deal with this situation, the manager came across an insecure leader. He had multiple repeated sessions with the team to understand the project & dynamics. The manager demanded the team to mark him in ALL emails & correspondence. He was micro-managing every task. The manager also started working long hours. He was seen emailing during early sunrise hours, mid-nights, and almost any time of the day. The unease & in-confidence was reflecting in the manager’s tone, emails, and interactions. The team felt unnecessarily burdened, questioned, and challenged when everything was going just fine. Manager had a cold style of working with people, overly controlling, going clause by clause to take decisions, everything required documenting to gain a sense of control.
The outcome from Manager’s perspective: Manager’s strategy to catch up with the project was to work hard, work long and demand the same from the team.
Missed opportunity: However, when seen through a leadership lens, the manager was finding it difficult to step into uncertainty of the situation. He was uncomfortable with things not documented. He was perceived by the team as the leader missing a sense of certainty and not trusting their word.
Conclusion
Above examples are just two of many frequent situations managers face. When we reflect on the situations, the dilemma in the minds of managers was 1) to have certainty, stability & a sense of control. Which are self-focused goals and intent can be termed as ‘manage well’, versus 2) to take the risk, embrace uncertainty & disruption which is essential for growth, intent in this is to ‘lead well’.
Embracing uncertainty and leading into unknown territory with confidence is a necessary leadership mindset for growth. The business world is disrupting so rapidly that retaining stability is unhelpful goal.
It is more relevant than ever before that to be a leader in current disruptive times, managers & organizations must consciously embrace 3 mindsets to up their leadership game.
- Be ok to walk into the unknown, uncertainty for growth. Growth is in going out of your comfort zones and experimenting with new ideas, new solutions, new territories. Resources will move on for their growth, managers must embrace this possibility and manage the change by adopting this mindset. Development of resources is primary goal of leaders.
- Be ok to fail as you embrace uncertainty. Not everything you try is going to work as you want. Every unsuccessful attempt is your feedback to take the next upcoming turn.
- While you feel uncertain inside walking into new territory, lead with authenticity and confidence to walk into new terrain with certainty. Play full-on. Half-hearted efforts yield half-results.
Managers who cultivate a habit of playing outside their comfort zone often enough will grow as leader. Before they realize their zone will expand which is preparing them to handle unknown and uncertain situations with grace – which is their growth!
& that’s where the thrill is!
