Question: If you ask someone, “How are you?” and they respond with, “I am managing.”
What did they just tell you?
I am doing terrible.
I am getting by.
I am doing what life expects of me.
I am exceeding expectations and leading my life to bigger and better things.
Seriously, the list of possible interpretations is long and very dependent on the situation and the context. Most often, the common interpretation of a response of “managing” is generally that they are “just getting by”.
Let us shift to the business environment and ask someone, “How are you doing?” and their answer is, “I am just managing.”
What are they telling you?
Not long ago many organizations did something called “flattening”. It simply was a cost cutting measure that eliminated positions through the consolidation of job responsibilities. Interestingly, most of the job responsibilities flowed downward to lower level positions rather than upward. This makes sense from a business perspective, which is to get specific deliverables for the lowest cost possible. The downside was that the role of management became more demanding and broader. Management is not management any longer.
The first time I made that statement, the listeners looked at me as if I were crazy! “What management school did you go to?” they would ask! As crazy as it sounds it opened a great discussion around specific role responsibilities and its needed contribution to the success of an organization. Managing and leadership are key to success, but they are two different roles and combining them into a single job often destines it for failure. Let us go deeper.
As the name implies, by the common of the term, an individual who can manage or consistently “get by”. “Getting by” is meeting the organizational and customer needs. A professional manager is then an individual who can consistently meet organizational and customer needs. The better that ability, the better the manager. We have belabored this point, let us look at leadership.
Leadership is an entirely different role. A leader is an individual who is “out front”. This individual is expected to guide and direct organizations and companies in new directions. Their direction may include to lead into higher levels of performance or new markets, etc. The better the leader, the more guidance they provide in taking organizations and companies away from what is normal.
If the two roles are proverbially placed “side by side” it becomes apparent that they are not the same. A manager is expected to keep things the same and a leader is expected to make it different. To expect leadership from a “manager” and expect this individual to simultaneously keep things on track while making them different is a contradiction.
The “Lowest Cost” Came with a Cost!
I recently read an article about the 15 traits of a good manager. As I reflected on them, I realized that the expectations are not that of a manager, but that of a leader. That companies and organizations want leadership at the lowest possible cost and sadly, they are getting what they pay for.
Managers are so overloaded and stretched that they are not able to fulfill the role that keeps a company or organization healthy. As a result, they do a mediocre job at best and companies blame the managers for the lackluster performance rather than the burdensome expectations.
“Same Old…Same Old…”
A manager’s role is to do what the title say. MANAGE! When we go back to the beginning of this article, we realize that this means, “Simply meeting expectations, pure and simply!” Managers should be providing “same old, same old” Great managers provide “same old, same old…GOOD” consistently. When they do that, it provides a perfect platform for leaders to take the company or organization to the next level or in a much needed, new direction.
Meeting expectations, a Herculean task.
“If my managers met operational expectations every day, we would have an extremely profitable business!” This was a powerful comment that set the stage for some amazing changes to a work environment. It happened during my report-out on an assessment conducted at a large manufacturer. My recommendation was to let the managers focus on meeting production demands and drop all the other expectations. Make your leaders do what they are expected to do and what you pay them to do. This CEO reluctantly agreed to do so, and we piloted the changes. The managers quickly embraced the changes and made every day boring good! A few of the leaders resisted showing their true colors and nature. Changes came to them also, but not back to the “old way of doing things.”
My conclusion…to make a company or organization profitable…
Let managers manage…
Make Leaders do their job!