The question is usually asked should I be a manager or a leader. Yet, every successful organization has both managers and leaders, which I will explain.
“You manage things; you lead people.” – General Colin Powell
The United States Army publication on leadership (ADP_6_22) emphasizes that leadership and management cover the actions to influence, motivate, provide purpose, give direction to others, and sustain and improve the organization.
When I was a U.S. Army First Sergeant, my Company Commander (CDR) and I were leading and managing the 58th Military Police Company. Together as a Command Team, our responsibility was for the health, welfare, discipline, readiness, military order, and training of 168 soldiers; to include the combat readiness of military equipment valued at over $20 million.
As the First Sergeant (the highest-ranking enlisted leader in the company), I was responsible for the professional development of 60 Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs). These NCOs were enlisted leaders, such as team leaders, squad leaders, and platoon sergeants, in which I also mentored the company officers; that is, the Platoon leaders (young lieutenants fresh out of college).
In addition, I advised the Company Commander on all facets of company operations, soldiers’ issues, and special emphasis areas (that is – physical fitness, promotions and administrative actions, training, organizational safety programs, family readiness, and many other things).
As a Command Team, the CDR and I understood our roles and responsibilities in the organization, which included many different aspects, depending on the situation, mission, task, soldier issues, and so on.
In a ceremony in 2012, the 58th Military Police (M.P.) company was recognized with the prestigious Bridger General J.P. Holland Award as the best M.P. company in the entire U.S. Army for the fiscal year 2012. Nevertheless, together, the CDR and I managed and lead this incredible organization to accomplish organizational goals and continued working toward our vision.
Basically, as a command team, we could complement each other in either the manager or leader role.
For instance, the manager focused on policies and procedures, trust in the process, counting value, managing work, maintaining stability, using logic, detailed focused, and giving directions.
While the leader focused on the vision and strategy, creating value, influencing and inspiring, more emotional, people-focused, risk and change seeker, appealing to the heart, proactive, setting direction, raises expectations, and always asking questions.
The CDR and I would switch roles from time to time, depending on the situation or mission. The roles could be Good Cop versus Bad Cop or Offense versus Defense. For instance, the condition may call for a soldier to receive some tough love; whereas, the good cop would encourage the soldier, while the bad cop would lay down the law.
Some people may approach this conversation from the point that leaders should be solely focused on people and not quarterly goals or, in the business world, sales quotes. However, managers come in and make sure the numbers and quarterly goals are being met.
Remember, you are the leader, which means that you are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results. Ultimately you are responsible for everything that happens and doesn’t happen.
Here’s a good breakdown of the roles of a leader and manager. Which one are you?
- What & Why versus How & When
The leader is giving the what and why; the manager is showing the how and when.
- Emotional versus Logical
The leader is more emotional, telling everyone what if we pull this off, while the manager is more logical, essentially saying here is what it’s going to take to get us there.
- Vision versus Follows the Vision
The leader is always reminding people of the vision, while the manager gets everyone to follow the vision (focused on the systems; that is, trust in the process).
- People Focused versus Numbers Focused
The leader is (unquestionably) people-focused (motivates and inspires), while the manager is more numbers-focused (administrative and control). Nonetheless, the numbers matter, but both the leader and manager know how to influence, motivate, provide purpose, and direction so that the numbers are improved, and the organization continues to rise above its competitors.
- Long Range View versus Short Range View
The leader is looking at the strategic goals and looking six months to a year out (looking into the future);. Simultaneously, the manager is short-range focused, basically looking at the day-to-day activities (working in the present).
- Offense versus Defense
The leader is playing offense, and the manager is playing defense.
- On offense, we want to take the initiative and or take the hill.
- On defense, we want to anticipate speed bumps before they become significant problems and look for kinks in the system. Essentially, we are continually analyzing, reviewing, evaluating, and asking what if? You never want to be blindsided by a storm or problem because you were not paying attention.
Whether you are managing the day-to-day operations or leading your organization into the future, you may find that you are better at one than the other. As a Command Team, the CDR and I understood our roles and responsibilities in the organization, which meant we were both leaders. However, we also understood when to manage the processes and systems to achieve success.
References
ADP 6-22 Army Leadership and The Profession of Arms Retrieved from https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN20039-ADP_6-22-001-WEB-0.pdf
58th M.P. Company Best in the U.S. Army. Retrieved from https://home.army.mil/hawaii/application/files/8515/5511/0452/05-24.pdf