Paying Attention to LEADERSHIP Versus MANAGEMENT – 5 Strategies for Success

Ever stop to pay attention to the difference between LEADERSHIP versus MANAGEMENT? One isn’t better than the other necessarily – but they do definitely take you down different paths.  Management is all about the right here, right now. Managing processes and people and staying in the status quo. Leadership, however, is about looking into the future and mapping out new ways to thrive for yourself and your team.

Let’s take a look at five ways you can drive a leadership versus management mentality:

1. Collaborate versus delegate. Delegate is when you are just telling people what to do. Collaboration, on the other hand, is bridging gaps between people. Reaching out for insights and ideas and new perspectives from other people Can you reach out to other people in your organization, across departments or even outside your own company to find new, mutually beneficial ways to problem-solve, build momentum and grow? It’s a powerful connection when you can.
2. Be strategic versus tactical. It’s easy, I know, to get caught up in the tactical part of tackling your daily to-do lists. Leadership-thinkers take it to the next step. They look to the future goals and ask bigger questions so they can help craft new and better paths to success.
3. Design over process. Start today to question the design of how things have “always been done”. Look for the opportunities where you can design new growth. Where you can re-think old processes.  Improve skills. Fuel innovation. And encourage positive change.
4. Listen over talk. Communication is a powerful tool for both managers and leaders. The difference? Leaders give as much attention as they get (and sometimes more).  They listen to both what is said, and what is unsaid. I find sometimes the biggest answers lie in that in-between!  They listen, learn and then use that insight to challenge processes and improve systems.
5. Ownership verses routine. It’s easy to fall into routines. They are fast tracks, however, to mediocrity. Instead encourage your team members to take ownership of their projects. Of the processes. Of their time. Their decisions. Their careers. Their choices. When you take ownership, you sharpen your focus on the things that the most important, and when that happens in an organization, everyone gets better.

Need more ideas? Watch for more tips and ideas for how you can get your managers thinking more like leaders:

This week, can you begin to shift your mindset from manager to leader, embrace these strategies and take action to bring them to fruition? Ah-mazing things can happen when you do.

If you need help fast-tracking leadership skills, strategies and mindsets within your team, give me a call today. That’s one of the things I love to do best!