Deciding to be manager happed when you want to maintain more control and you are asking how and when. For me it was becacuse I was very goal orietated and wanted control the outcomes throught affective managing.
You can be both a maanger and leader but knowing the difference is important to be affective
Loni, great point. One person can do both and it sounds like you have a plan to accomplish your goals. Great job.
Dr. Jean Norris
Thomas, thanks for sharing this. So it sounds like a situational experience for you.
Dr. Jean Norris
I believe becoming a manager is a choice - in most cases there is an opportunity presented for a managerial position. Becoming a leader may not be a conscious choice; it may be something a person evolves into.
Gail,
So true! Do you believe someone can be a leader such as a receptionist or an assistant over a vice president?
Dr. Jean Norris
You must identify the need with each circumstance. It is very important for a director to understand which is needed with the circumstance at hand. I do believe a supervisor needs to know how to be both and know when to use one verses the other to provide balance to a department. For instance, if there are regulatory requirements for a department and they are not being met, the supervisor needs to use the manager's hat to assure all involved know their responsibility and "trust but verify." For long-term goals and reflective thinking of what the department is and wants to become, a leader's hat should be used, allowing all in the department to be a part in the development of the goals.
Gaylene,
Excellent post! You certainly have a meaningful grasp on the difference and importance of both roles. In your experience, how do great managers and leaders switch back and forth?
Dr. Jean Norris
In my various positions that I've held over the year, I have normally relied on the following ideal: one manages 'projects', but leads 'people'.
Barring my cynical quip that "sometimes people can BE projects", the role of a leader is certainly most effective when he/she has the people who will follow: having the horses who will win the race, so to speak. Managers also can run into this issue, but spend more time developing processes and working within the systems to improve them and their efficiency.
Organizations would most certainly benefit from having team members who understood their roles succinctly, and even exercise both roles. If you have a plethora of "big idea guys" (leaders) and no one to carry out the particulars (managers), a company ends up with a group of overpaid executive types who all just lean back in their chairs, feet up on their desks, hands behind their heads, dreaming up their next "big idea". All the while, no actual work gets done.
Conversely, if an organization features only managers and no leaders, the results can be a shiftless hub of pencil pushing bureaucrats (if you will) who focus so much on the processes that there is no one to direct the team to a bigger goal or top line to envision.
Ian,
You bring up many interesting points. I really like your 'one manages projects, but leads people' ideal. Having the right people in place is very important yet is often overlooked by organizations. They often try to lead the horse to the water but you know what they say, you can't make them drink. The combination of having the right people and effectively communicating a shared vision has the best possibility of success. Have you experienced the balance of management and leadership working together? I welcome others to share their success stories as well.
Dr. Jean Norris
This is a good question. If I had to really think back and reflect, I think I just got lucky to have a core group of individuals with me when I assumed what was (at the time) a management role that eventually morphed into a leadership role. There wasn't one particular moment that the "switch" turned on for this change, but I remember having a finite amount of time to prepare for an accreditation visit, and during this time frame, I was fortunate enough to have the team that trusted my vision enough to get us through it.
From that point, I saw the benefit of developing my management team into a leadership team, and encouraged them to do the same with their faculty (who would, in turn, do the same thing with their students). A good or bad culture of a campus can be contagious, and fortunately, we felt we were on the good side :-)
The results ended up in yearly Retention rate of 82% (with a range of 77% to 86%), and the most recent job placement rate was 90% (with a range of 78% to 90% in the previous 5 years).
It is important to specify which team members can be ready for leadership roles and then develop them accordingly. And then the legacy continues :-)
Ian,
Congratulations on the success of your team! Sometimes we get lucky and have people with great leadership skills in our ranks, but the approach you mention of choosing the right team members and developing them accordingly, is more common. I also like the ripple effect that seems to happen at your institution, I think it demonstrates that leading by example really works. Thank you very much for your post.
Dr. Jean Norris
yes you can be both,because a manager can be a leader or vice verses it depend on The people skill that you have.
You certainly can be both. How do you know when to tap into one or the other?
yes you can do both because a good manager can be a leader and you can manage them bot
Thank you for your participation in the forum Juanita. Can you provide specific examples of ways that a manager can be a good leader?
You can absolutely be both a manager and a leader. Leading is an over-arching concept that you continue all of the time, while managing can be broken down into day-to-day tasks or projects. You can continue to lead within managing each project.
I believe time to be a deciding factor. If there is time, you should take it to lead. However, if there are other more pressing tasks, you should manage by delegation. You can do both but not efficiently at the same time.
I replied to this conversation too soon! After reading more of the course material, I believe that to be successful you need to be both a manager and leader.
Well I'm glad I read this post before responding to the other! Great awareness Alex, I'm glad you made it through the entire course and see the benefit of having both management and leadership skills to be successful.
Dr. Jean Norris
