Over the last two decades, “leadership” has become a buzzword, used liberally by many without much reference to the context. With the emergence of this trend, a number of leadership and management gurus wrote books advising companies to move away from “management” – which they believe stifles creativity and inhibits the maximization of employees’ capabilities. These gurus have advocated the utilization of “leadership” in its stead. While on the surface this advice seems ingenious and rather revolutionary, it ignores two critical factors: the employee’s level of experience and competence.
More experienced individuals would benefit more from leadership than they would from traditional management – especially if they’re self-driven and ambitious. As the leader, by setting a clear vision, establishing goals, milestones, and a timeline that will lead up to the vision, you would’ve empowered this individual with everything they need to be successful. You wouldn’t have much need for frequent “check-ins”, either. They will get you involved whenever your support is needed.
Employees who are fresh out of college, or relatively inexperienced in a role, industry, or department don’t need freedom and leadership just yet; they need management. While they’re learning their responsibilities and understanding how their tasks fit into the larger picture and goals of the organization, they need some hand-holding. Freedom to “improvise” won’t do them much good, as they haven’t completely understood the inter-connectivity of the different departments in the company.
Of course, there’s an exception to every rule. Occasionally you’d run into a relatively experienced individual who is a “doer”. They don’t take initiative and need to be told exactly what to do before they do it. They’re very good at tactical-type work. You can’t leave room for error. You must give them every detail in order for anything to be done remotely correctly. These individuals, though experienced, also need to be managed. As the leader, you must share the vision, establish goals, milestones, and a workable timeline. But you must create a frequent schedule of progress reviews to make sure they’re still aligned with the vision.
When you lead a person who needs to be managed, you don’t produce the greatest results. The same applies to managing a person who needs to be led. Learning when to lead vs manage will help keep you from pulling out all your hair in frustration.
___________________
Ugo is an energetic and dynamic youth leader, and also the president of the nonprofit, NEU Gen Leaders. He is the author of 2 books – Secrets of Academic Excellence and The NEU Era. He can be reached at [email protected].