The Nature of Leadership and Career

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The Nature of Leadership and Career, is a weekly newsletter where I provide 1 illustration and ~3 ideas to help you connect to your career, leadership, or work journey in a more natural way.

FYI this issue is a bit different to most issues with less focus on nature, psychology and mindset. But a worthwhile read on a highly debated topic!

Today at a glance

• Illustration of the week

  - Leadership VS management or Leadership AND Management

• The Nature of Leadership

  - False fight between leadership and management

  - Leadership and Management: the science / theory

  - Leadership and management: practical scenarios

Illustration of the Week

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The Nature of Leadership

🥊 Are you being sucked into the false fight between leadership and management?

You’ve probably seen false distinctions between leader vs manager /boss on social media or popular “news” sources.

The click-bait / misinformed articles, images, and videos generally sound or look something like this:

Sadly, even some of the most esteemed leaders, professors are falling prey to the false distinction.

There is NO organizational psychology or management theory that says leadership = good and management = bad.

Here’s what the literature actually suggests ……

Leadership and management: a theoretical view

The tango between leadership and management:

Vision and Execution - Leaders set a direction for the rest of us; they help us see what lies ahead; they help us visualize what we might achieve; they encourage us and inspire us – Liphadzi, Aigbavboa, Thwala, 2017.

Managers ensure that vision is executed, their focus is generally on a “set of processes that keep an organization functioning, they make it hit this quarter’s numbers” - John Kotter.

Passion and persistence “A leader have soul, the passion and the creativity while a manager has the mind, the rational and the persistence. A leader is flexible, innovative, inspiring, courageous and independent and at the same time a manager is consulting analytical, deliberate, authoritative and stabilizing.” – John Kotter, 2001

Order and Chaos “The difference between managers and leaders lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in their psyches, of chaos and order.” Managers lean toward stability and order (which can often look like control) whilst leaders create space for “reasonable chaos” to better understand and address issues. - Abraham Zaleznik

There are varied theories and literature on the exact core skills of what a leader does, what a manager does, and the overlap.

Here is an example:

This looks more logical. You can see that a leader would need a foot in each camp.

Admittedly there are challenges and tensions between leading and managing e.g. drive to meet target vs innovate or the approach to restructuring an organization.

Sometimes the theory might not represent our true experience.

So let’s get practical.

Leadership and management: practical scenarios

Here are common situational squeezes between leading and managing.

They are written from the point of view of an employee or team member.

Scenario A

• You are part of a team with a manager who is very well organized really focused on business goals and metrics e.g. KPIs or OKRs.

• Your manager gives your clarity on the tasks you need to do, and your manager even gives you autonomy on how to do it. You just don’t understand the overall vision and direction of the work.

• However, there is little room for you to propose work, and grow your skills if it falls outside of the scope that enables the manager to look good and achieve their metrics.

• There is little sense of team engagement, and you have limited personal growth opportunities.  

Scenario B

• You have an amazing leader who fosters a strong sense of team engagement and safety.

• They are proactive in helping you grow your skills and career.

• The leader clearly outlines the vision and purpose of the team and work, yet struggle to keep the team accountable for delivery and performance.

• In addition, the leader hasn’t taken the time to learn the basics of people manager operations e.g. performance reviews, promotion cycles, reward and recognition so they miss the deadline to put you up for promotion, and you also miss getting compensated for your outstanding work.

Scenario C

• You are part of a relatively new and inexperienced team and there are plans to grow the team with more experienced individuals.

• In the meantime, you have a new team leader who is known for their supportive style, coaching capabilities and ability to set clear vision and direction.

• The leader keeps empowering the team to solve problems for themselves but the team doesn’t know how to execute the work due to their skills gap and years of business experience.

• The team keeps missing deadlines and targets. They really need the leader to tell them what to do in the short term. You often ask the leader if they can give you and the team more guidance. The leader always responds that “they aren’t a micro-manager” and believe in empowering the team to figure it out.

• The team starts spiraling because of pressure from the organization to deliver, coupled with their inability to upskill in time, and the lack of day to day practical direction from their leader.  

Each of these scenarios requires different modes and amounts of leadership AND management.

What are your thoughts on:

• What would be your leading: managing mix in each scenario?

• What would be the outcomes for the team, leader, and organization in each?

Resources form this issue

• Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? - Abraham Zaleznik

• A theoretical perspective on the difference between leadership and management. - Liphadzi, Aigbavboa, Thwala

• Leading Change, a conversation with John Kotter

•  Leadership versus management: What's the difference? - James Kotterman

Catch up on recent issues of The Nature of Leadership + Career

• Why should anyone be led by you?

• How to design your generalist - specialist career journey

• 5 Leadership + Career lessons from nature's secret to efficiency, diversity, and resilience

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