What would happen if today, you, as the boss, went out for lunch and made a decision to not return to the office for the rest of today and several days as well and didn’t bother to phoning in to tell people you were taking time off? Think about that question for a moment.
What would happen if you just stopped showing up for a few days and didn’t tell anyone where you were? Would your people mildly begin to panic about who would make decisions in your absence? Would the foundation of the office start to fall apart because no one was there to take charge? Would there be a great deal of unease around the office wondering where you were and when you would be returning?
Do you even know the answer to that question? In your mind, would the place fall apart? In the minds of your staff, would they welcome your departure?
The difference between a manager and a leader is that a manager will tend to need to have his or her fingers in everything that is going on in the office. That need to have some form of control is usually the result of a deep-rooted and well-hidden insecurity. A manager who feels the need to control every decision and/or needs to have his/her input made prior to a decision being made, well that person has a control problem. Control issues stem from insecurities.
If you’re worried about one day being replaced as the person in charge, then you don’t get the whole concept of leadership – you are, in fact, a manager.
You will never be a leader so long as you are worried about someone else doing a better job of running the place than you do. You will never be a leader if you let your fear of being shown up stand in the way of bringing out the best in the people who work for you. You will never be a leader if you need to be in the spotlight and need to make sure that everyone knows you are the leader. If you need any of these, you may be the person in charge but you are no leader.
A leader will ensure that he/she has surrounded himself with competent people: perhaps even people who are smarter and better at managing. That same leader will ask his/her people to stretch themselves and make decisions – decisions that affect the company. That same leader will also understand that so long as people feel that they are valued for their contributions, that they get the opportunity to make valuable contributions and that they also take responsibility for their actions, they will not be trying to knock off the guy at the top. The leader’s job is safe because everyone is in charge – in charge of his or her own areas of responsibility.
Think you’d be missed as a leader if this were you? Not a chance. Enjoy your vacation.
1 comment:
I agree but also have a slight issue as some of my managers in the name of leadership described in the artical stay ignorant and have no clue on what is going on right under their nose. I agree on the tip but it must have a foot note that leaders are also very responsible and understand discipline of getting the job done.
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