Читать книгу People Management - Rus Slater - Страница 7

Are you a manager or a leader? This is not about your job title. ‘Leaders’ have their ‘followers’, whereas ‘managers’ have ‘the managed’. This may seem like a purely semantic difference, but there are different concepts behind the words.

• Followers. These people actively choose to follow you. They want to support you, they want to work for you, and they want you to succeed, because your success proves they were right to follow you.

• The managed. These people are relatively passive in working for you. They are happy to let you make all their decisions for them. They do as they are told and leave it up to you to check the quality of their work. They don’t try to use their initiative because they believe that is what you are paid for. They give you the ‘right to manage’.

one minute wonder There is a quote from a staff members’ annual report that reads: “This person is capable of producing adequate results when under constant supervision and when caught like a rat in a trap!” Does this describe any of your own people?

It is probably pretty clear that your life will be more fulfilling and more enjoyable if you are a leader than a manager, but pressure (target-driven organizations, the desire to be indispensable, the feeling of responsibility) tends to encourage micro-management.

You probably need to ‘manage’ people who have little experience and expertise, but as people grow in ability and knowledge you can slowly switch from ‘manager’ to ‘leader’. Of course, if you take over a team that is already performing, you may be able to go straight to leadership and followership from day one.

A leader attracts followers, whereas a manager has to supervise the managed.