Finding the Balance between Leadership and Management Skills

Becoming a leader sounds exciting, right? All of us, including you and me, want to become a leader. One who’ll inspire our colleagues and others. Being the title of manager has the opposite effect. When people think of a manager they automatically think of ones who spend their entire day getting the work done by their subordinates. However, the manager and leader are both important for an enterprise to achieve its goals.

A leader’s job is to inspire and motivate the team whereas managers are there to organize, plan and oversee daily activities. Both leadership and management skills are required to drive long-term success. It’s important to find the right balance between leadership and management to ensure long-term success in your organization.

Soft skills count

Some managers focus on getting the job done and forget to also focus on building relationships with their teammates and colleagues. They feel that leadership skills such as training, encouraging and motivating are not important. However, employees will be less responsive towards their job if their managers aren’t focused on building relationships and taking the time to really get to know them. Managers without people skills will find it difficult to get employees to commit to overtime or projects that require more time, which will affect the collaboration and productivity of the team.

Management and leadership go hand-in-hand

Both management and leadership skills work better together than separately. Employees look for encouragement, feedback and training from their top level managers. Relating every job to the organization’s goals and making employees contribute is important when getting the job done right and in an efficient manner.

While managers and top executives spend time supporting employees and fostering a positive culture in the company, it’s also important to ensure that employees are meeting a client’s requirements or carrying out the essential tasks when handling tasks and projects in a timely fashion. Low-level managers should be trained by experienced executives to ensure there’s a better understanding when balancing tactical skills with soft skills.

How to balance leadership and management

When meeting deadlines, managers have to have both managerial and leadership skills. Balancing between being a manager and leader comes with a mix of solid experience, changing your mindset and organization between the two. While finding the right blend of the two, you should ask yourself some questions like:

• Is the work being done without your involvement? If this is the case, you should concentrate on motivating the team to perform well. If not, put on the manager hat and ask the team what is stopping them from doing better and help them to implement changes.

• Do your colleagues from other departments come to you for advice? If yes, then you are seen as a leader. If this is not the case, look for what you can do to support and inspire others.

• What matters to you– the tasks, processes and deadlines, or the strategy? Managers should pay attention to both but should not focus only on one direction.

• Do you ask your subordinates to work on a task without explaining how the task fits in the grand scheme of things? Employees go the extra mile if they understand why and what’s required of them and the project at hand.  

• Who takes the responsibility when things go wrong? Is it you or your team? Leaders should feel that it is their responsibility for both the success and failure of the team.

All these questions help you understand the ability of yourself and your team member’s motivation and desire. A manager without soft skills will find it difficult to ask questions, listen and motivate the team. Without understanding, managers will have a hard time in encouraging and improving productivity, which ultimately will cost the business.

Find the balance

It’s time that company leaders teach their employees how to manage and lead. Teaching the skills and ways of management is quite easy. However, the ability to lead people comes only when you take on a leadership role and fully embrace it. One needs to acquire leadership skills to motivate and inspire employees. Considering HR management software like SutiHR can facilitate clear communication and help your business’ operate much more effectively and smoothly.

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