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You Say Leader, I Say Potato

Guest post by: Betsey Nash

Article Overview: Manager... Leader... Are they the same? Should they be the same? Betsey brings some clarity to those questions.

You Say Leader, I Say Potato

Now, I ask you: Knowing that Rotary is a worldwide charitable organization whose members are the owners or some other kind of top dog in their companies, wouldn't you expect a bunch of Leos in the crowd? You know, Leo: Astrological sign, royalty, like a lion, take charge, born leader. Been called a natural leader since elementary school. Can take themselves too seriously, big ego, try to run the whole world. Napoleon was a Leo. Muhammad Ali and Jacky Kennedy Onassis. George W. Bush. Well anyway, there I am, speaking to the San Luis Obispo, CA Rotary de Tolosa (Wednesday) club, asking that all Leos raise their hands and there were 2! I was there to give a talk on the difference between leadership and management and expected the leadership part would be a cinch, what with all those Leos in the crowd.

So I had to "punt". But, hey, no problem; I had just heard that there are tens of thousands of books on leadership currently in print, so I figured everybody there had read at least one. I have 62 books on leadership and management in my office library, but then 10 of them are the One Minute Manager. Whew... yes, everybody there had read at least one.

Author Marcus Buckingham, my "strengths" guru, spoke at this summer's SHRM (national HR association) convention in San Diego, CA, and he made the point that managers are not "leaders in waiting". The two positions require different skills, talents, even temperaments. And certainly require a different focus. There are those who disagree: Who believe that every manager can become a leader.

But a manager, Buckingham says, is the one responsible for coaxing the diverse talents of each employee into performance. The manager is focused inward: At the talent, skills, and tasks at hand. "What can I do with the tools I have at my disposal?" Aside: It was in the early 60's, I think, that personnel (to be directed) became resources (to be managed).

A leader, Buckingham contends, is born a leader. It's more than a matter of learning the steps. No one can teach a person optimism, for example. While the manager is focused inward, the leader is focused outward - actually preoccupied by the future. Their vision of it, of course. A leader is never satisfied with the present because in their heads they can see a better future. And they are rallying their employees toward it. Buckingham says: "If you don't believe you have the right to drag the rest of us into the future then don't be a leader."

I say: What would an organization do without both? We need the manager to coax the employees' individual talents into performances that serve the objectives, and we need the optimism of the leader to coax everyone into a future that promises success. But watch out if you can't afford both: I venture to say some leaders are good managers and some aren't. And vice versa.

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Article Tags: Buckingham, leader, manager, versus



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