Effective leadership development strategies across organizational levels

Leadership

Leaders and managers, while seeming the same, are not synonymous. In general, managers conduct and organize affairs, projects, or people -- the tactical side. Leaders have followers, not subordinates -- they inspire, motivate and set the direction to achieve goals. The 21st century manager must be an effective leader due to the rapid and widespread changes in the business and organizational environment. For instance, most organizations are no longer simply local or regional in their operational paradigms. Instead, they are national, and almost always in some way (suppliers, customers, etc.), global. Globalization has brought the world closer in communication, economics, politics, and especially business -- and stakeholders are robust. The Internet and technological improvements have allowed instantaneous communication almost anywhere, and even poor women in India are using Smartphones to manage their banking portfolios. The idea of globalism continues to break down cultural barriers. As this continues it will be essential for organizations to not only understand, but embrace cultural differences and styles. This will require different types of management philosophies, and a new way of empowering employees at all levels so that both strategic and tactical goals can be met. There are five key behaviors that most takeholders expect from leaders in: (a) challenge the process, (b) inspire a shared vision, (c) enable others to act, (d) model the way, and (e) encourage the soul as well as the mind. Leader roles are not always formal, but more psychological (servant or charismatic roles) than management, but it is not only possible, but sometimes efficacious to combine them. Leaders must not wait until things are so broken to fix them, instead, they must inspire a shared vision to get things done. To accomplish this management must empower managers to implement the shared vision as outlined in a strategic plan.

Everyone manages something. It is at what level of span of control, of detail, and of strategy and tactics that differentiate management levels. We can use the analogy of an airplane to understand different roles. When the plane is on the ground, the line managers who are examining the details of the machinery and equipment are in action. They are concerned with tactical matters -- will A fix B, will C. run, etc. Once the plane takes off, the middle managers take over -- they are the flight crew, and their concern is focused on both strategy and tactics; tactics for the specific flight and customer satisfaction, strategy because the pilot is looking at the individual situation from a broader span of control. Now, the VP of Operations who is in charge of all the pilots is looking not at one plane at 40,000 feet, but many planes, many people, many scenarios, and many operations. Their job is to provide support and strategic direction so the tactical managers can adequately perform their jobs. Finally, we have top management, the CEO who must look at the organization as a whole so that everyone can do their jobs, but also so that stakeholder expectations are met -- from the customer to the Board of Directors. At this level of management, long-term issues and broad-based strategies that effect change are important; whether X bolt is stocked in Y bin, is not.

The Line Manager -- The line manager has the most technical skill of all, and is managing a few people or a few tasks at the micro level. This level of manager must have diagnostic skills and use those skills to ensure that the tactical operations move smoothly on a regular basis. The line manager is responsible for staffing of their department, ensuring daily or hourly work is done; specific goals are met, and the translation of company goals and vision is made appropriately to employees.

The Middle Manager - Middle managers are usually involved at the tactical and operational levels, but company-wide, it is important that each employee understand where their own particular job or expertise fits in with the strategy of the company and the manner in which the company continues to grow. Middle management is responsible for carrying out goals set forth by top management. They do this by taking the broad goal and making it feasible for their particular business unit. They are more involved in the day-to-day operations, as well as managing people, and provide valuable feedback upward so that the issues of today do not become the problems of tomorrow. Usually, this level of manager is a specialist in one or more aspects (e.g. marketing, finance, etc.), and is on track to move up to a higher position depending on abilities and the culture of the organization.

The Senior Manager -- Senior managers have a very precarious job. They must balance tactical and strategic managerial skills. They should not get too involved in the day-to-day operations, but need to be involved enough to remove roadblocks. They must be great communicators, taking strategies and broad level initiatives and helping middle management work to implement those processes companywide. Often, this level of management has been promoted up from middle-management, and may actually know the details of the particular organization better than the CEO. However, their task is to hone their expertise in not only their own comfort zone (e.g. accounting, distribution, etc.), but to become familiar with other aspects of the business that drive strategic direction.