The Art of Combining Leadership and Management

Everything discussed in these blogs comes down to one point – the idea of successfully combining leadership and management. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the daily responsibilities, issues, and surprises. We all have projects and deadlines, and most of us have someone above us to whom we have to answer. The current economic situation brought with it new challenges and new worries, further cementing our focus on daily organization.

While fewer in numbers, there are those who have the ability to focus solely on leadership. Although equally as important, leadership focus alone misses out on the absolutely crucial tasks often associated with daily operations of a business. Our goal then, as we work on improving ourselves as leader/managers, is to successfully combine the two, and designate our attention, efforts, and energy to both. It’s not an exact science and we have to be flexible. Focus has to vary according to need, situation, alignment of celestial bodies….etc. Your job as a successful leader/manager is to pay attention and know when to wear what hat. You must be able to not only assess the situation as it looks at the moment, but also to anticipate the future as much as possible.

Keep in mind that your journey’s focus should be on ongoing improvement. As we strive for excellence (not perfection), the journey has no real end. Instead, the achievement of each goal is but a stepping-stone as we move forward.

Leading by Example

“Do as I say, not as I do.” How well do people respond to that seemingly simple sentence? How well did you respond as a child? As an adult? As children we felt disappointment at hearing those words. As adults, that disappointment can easily morph into resentment.

Put yourself in a position of having to follow a leader who sends the message of do as I say, not as I do. Whether he actually says those words, or conveys the message with actions (or lack thereof), your response will be the same. Why should you follow a leader who doesn’t walk the walk? Would you find yourself questioning his ability to lead? How much respect would you have for him?

If you want your employees to take you seriously, all of these questions are worth asking as you examine your own position and leadership skills. Do you invite your employees to follow you as their leader by leading by example? Do you have their respect? Do you treat them as capable professionals, or as children who should simply do as you say, not as you do?

Set an example for others and inspire them to do what you want them to do by doing the right things yourself. It’ll be easier to get your employees on your team, and having their respect will make it simpler to be a more effective leader. Remember that your success as a leader is a work in progress, but it’s in your hands nonetheless. Learn from your mistakes and search for opportunities to improve yourself every day.

Persuasion and Relationships

Examining persuasion and relationships can sometimes seem like trying to figure out the old question of which came first – the chicken or the egg. Do your persuasive abilities affect the caliber of relationships that you’re able to form? Or are you more successful at persuading those with whom you already have existing relationships?

Consider the fact that relationships are a crucial part of everyone’s day at work. As long as we have some kind of contact with other people, we’re experiencing relationships. Successful managers/leaders know how to build relationships that are productive and beneficial. Power of persuasion can be quite handy when it comes to building relationships in the workplace because the right relationships can help to take you and your team to new levels of accomplishment.

On the other hand, your ability to influence and persuade your current employees depends on your existing relationships with each individual. Their image of you influences how receptive they will be to your persuasion attempts – trust, credibility, and expertise all play a big part. It’s in your best interest as an effective manager/leader to take care of the relationships in your professional life.

It’s a simple truth that the ability to influence appears to require building or having some kind of relationship. This seems to be the case regardless of the nature or longevity of the relationship. Whether it’s a store clerk influencing a sale or a manager working with people he sees daily, the ability to influence depends on relationships and our persuasive talents.

Given the importance of this topic, it’s worth expanding on a previous post that discussed some of the current theories of persuasion. Silberman (2000, p. 123) speaks of three ways to influence people – by connecting with others, assessing needs, and making a persuasive presentation. These suggestions make perfect sense. Connecting with others simply opens up a doorway for your persuasive attempts. Being able to correctly assess others’ needs, affords you the opportunity to provide the perfect solution. Finally, you can use the first two to make your persuasive presentation more effective.


Silberman, M. & Hansburg, F. (2000). People Smart: Developing Your Interpersonal Intelligence. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publisher, Inc.

Coaching Through Generations

How is coaching and developing others different than it may have been in the past? What knowledge, skills, and attributes do coaches need to develop in order to be effective in today's complex business environment?

Coaching and developing others today differs from what it was years ago. For the first time in history, companies employ people from four different generations. The Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials that all work side by side (Lancaster & Stillman, 2005, p. 4). While companies have been learning to deal with diversity, many have overlooked the generational differences variable. Just like anything else, coaching and developing is bound to be affected by the kinds of differences that result from generational clashes.

Each generation has a different history, they’ve been influenced by different events, people, and things, and they have different goals, expectations, and values (Lancaster & Stillman, 2005, p. 18). A coach has to take all that into consideration. How can someone be an effective coach, communicate efficiently, and understand and support his coachee if they come from seemingly two different worlds? The things that are important to one person may not be as important to someone else.

A successful coach will first and foremost be aware that generational differences exist and are real. He will be willing to think outside the box and look at another point of view. In order to transcend generational differences, there has to be understanding, flexibility, and open-mindedness. It may not be easy to coach someone who is the same age as your parent or child and seems to speak a different language. A good coach, however, will be able to look beyond all that. Can you? Are you able to find a common language and bridge generational differences? Step back and consider your coachee in terms of his/her generation so that you may tailor your approach to best suit the experience.


Lancaster, L.C., & Stillman, D. (2002). When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Whey They Clash. How To Solve The Generational Puzzle At Work. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.

The Leader’s Role in Others’ Learning

One of your many responsibilities as a leader is to help your employees learn. The way that you approach this task will make a difference in the results that you see. Consider how your role differs when you’re helping others to learn rather than simply teaching them. There is a time and place for both, and your job is to figure out which approach is most appropriate.

Helping others to learn implies more involvement on the part of the instructor. A different kind of relationship has to exist – one that underlines partnership. When it comes to choosing what and how to teach, helping others to learn suggests not only allowing the learner to be involved in the decision-making process, but encouraging it. This approach resembles coaching, where one person is there to guide and support the other, and to hold them accountable for what they’re learning. At the same time, during this process the leader is being held accountable herself, which gives her opportunities to learn.

Teaching comes in many styles and can be done in a variety of ways. Teaching others seems to focus more on conveying information and leaving the decision of what to do with this information up to the learner. Although teaching can be done in an involving and active way, the relationship has more of a top-down feel/structure (rather than the partnership seen when helping others to learn). Learners can sit through a presentation daydreaming and absorbing nothing. Accountability is not as great for either teachers or students in this approach.

Which approach seems most appropriate for you? Can you identify situations where one method would’ve been the better choice? Practice teaching others and your success rate will increase.

Spring-Cleaning

Spring has sprung in most parts of the country, which means that many of us get the urge to do some spring-cleaning. Although that’s a fine idea for your house, a different kind of spring-cleaning is just as appropriate at the office. This is the perfect time to take stock and assess your own performance as a leader/manager. In fact, it’s a good idea to take a look at your own progress on a regular basis – you don’t have to wait until spring to do it. There are many benefits to this kind of maintenance. Staying on top of your performance will help you to understand your strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will allow you to spot opportunities for improvement. It’s very simple, a better leader/manager will get better your results.

What kind of manager are you? What’s your management style? Are you leading by example? When is the last time you reviewed your leadership plan? What about your vision for the company (or your department)? Have you been coaching and developing your employees? These are only a few of the questions which should have your attention on a regular basis. Take the time to do some spring-cleaning to ensure that you’re doing your best. You probably take the time to assess others’ performances. Why not reap additional benefits by devoting some of that energy to a self-evaluation?

Polarity Management

Throughout most of our formal education we’re encouraged to solve problems which have only one correct answer. This means that all the other answers are wrong. Polarity management moves us away from the one-answer approach to a problem. It invites us to look at things in a different way allowing for more than one right answer, all of which are interdependent (Johnson, 1998). The polarity management approach aims to create a win-win outcome.

When parents teach children how to share, they’re addressing a polarity issue, where two interdependent answers are both right. The child is taught that by sharing she can create a win-win situation where both she and her friend get to enjoy something (Johnson, 1998). In adulthood, polarity management can equally invite people to seek win-win solutions. It can promote looking at the whole spectrum of available choices, seeking the advantages of all alternatives.

Johnson (1998) warns that neither the one-answer approach nor polarity management can offer best results on their own. He further states that polarity management is a “supplement to either/or thinking not a replacement” (p. 4). So as we coach and develop others, we can enjoy the benefits of adding polarity management to the picture. It will promote a broader range of options to the coachee. When someone is struggling with finding a solution to a problem, invite them to look at the other side of the spectrum. This may offer a whole new interpretation of the original problem.

Johnson, B. (June 1998). Polarity Management: A Summary Introduction. Polarity Management Associates.

Feedback from Employees

Good leaders pay attention to what’s going on around them. This includes listening to their employees. While you can take some time to speak with many of your people, you may not be able to get to each and every one of them. It’s a good idea to set up some way for employees to offer feedback to management – a way for information to flow up the ladder. This can be as simple as a suggestion box, or something more involving like a meeting of the minds where ideas are exchanged in person. Make sure that ideas that make a difference are recognized. Whether in a company newsletter, or during a company meeting, give credit where credit is due.

Why is this important? For one, you never know where the next great idea can come from. Your company is full of individuals with ideas. Just as customer service reps will have the most direct feedback from your customers, process improvement ideas can come from people directly involved in said processes. However, benefits of seeking out employee feedback go far beyond process improvement and understanding what your customers want. Every time you ask for feedback, you send a message to your employees. You show them that you’re interested and that you’re listening. It demonstrates your respect and appreciation of your employees, which in turn fosters better employer-employee relationships, creating more satisfied and loyal employees. By now, we all know that a happy employee is a more productive employee. This is just another way of connecting with your employees – one that benefits all involved.

Partnering With Your Employees

If managed properly, every employee can be a great asset to the company. However, they can also be a great expense, a tremendous responsibility, and a potential liability. It’s all in how you look at it, and how you manage others. Employees are hired to perform certain tasks. Too often, getting the most “bang for your buck” is seen as piling on more and more work onto each person, sometimes expecting them to do the job of several people. While that may seem like a cost efficient way to do things, nothing could be further from the truth. Sooner or later, this kind of approach will prove itself quite detrimental. Overworked employees become overwhelmed, unhappy, burned out employees. The quality of work suffers, as do dedication and safety.

It’s much more productive to partner with your employees by taking the time to coach and develop them, and by nurturing and utilizing their strengths. Take some time to get to know your employees. This doesn’t mean spending countless hours chatting with every member of your team – a few minutes on a somewhat regular basis will suffice. Start by browsing through previous posts (specifically ones focusing on the coaching and development of your employees, and on ways of utilizing their strengths and talents). The efforts that you put into managing your employees have a direct, positive correlation with the results that you’ll see. Get the most “bang for your buck” the smart way, not the hard way.

Suggested reading (previous blogs): October 2009; 11/3/09; 2/6/10; 4/11/10; 8/22/10; 10/24/10

Assumptions

The Pygmalion effect addresses the effects that a manager’s beliefs and attitudes have on their subordinates. This phenomenon can be explained through the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies (Livingston, 1988, p.4), which have been visible throughout various environments. Just as a teacher’s expectations affect the students’ performance, management expectations will have a notable bearing on employee performance. Simply put, we will get that which we expect. This applies regardless of how positive or negative the expectations are, as long as they are realistically achievable.

A business-setting coach can utilize this knowledge to set the coachee up for success. In order to establish the kind of atmosphere that promotes the achievement of high expectations, positive attitude and respect must be conveyed to the employee. It’s crucial to keep in mind that non-verbal communications (such as body language) can be a powerful way of projecting messages (Livingston, 1988, p.6). It is also of great importance that a manager has confidence in his own competence. When working with a coachee, a coach can utilize the Pygmalion effect by seeking out opportunities when he can express his expectations of the employee’s success. While keeping the goals attainable, the coach can show confidence in the employee’s abilities.

A coach can assume one of two motivating forces driving his employees: the desire to contribute and advance, or a wish to do as little as possible. Gaber refers to this as Theory Y and Theory X, respectively (1987, p100). By assuming either set of motivations, management pre-sets expectation of their employees, which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies.



Gaber, B. (January 1987). I’m OK, You’re Theory X. Training, 99.

Livingston, J.S. (September – October 1988). Pygmalion in Management. Harvard Business Review, 3.