Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.
Steve Jobs – Apple Founder & CEO
COVID is presenting a burning question: ‘What’s better, beings a VUCAN leader or a manager?’ I’ve observed first level supervisors, managers, and executives work their magic. I don’t know what makes a VUCAN leader or a highly effective manager. Maybe, this is moot.
Great crisis management is a difficult topic to explain, but is hugely critical in a pandemic. Demand is down. Income is down. Companies such as Airbnb lays of 1/3 of its employees. Increasingly, leaders are seen as VUCANs who can guide himself or herself or a group to do what needs to be done in a process or project. These normal VUCANs can self manage, possess high energy, are passionate, are committed to a cause, share responsibility, have high values, and are highly credible. So, who are today’s COVID leaders?
Here’s a huge irony. Many VUCAN leaders think of themselves as doers, makers, hands-on, etc. When we’ve interviewed the direct reports of the ‘leader,’ we found that direct reports thought their bosses were useless administrators, control freaks, incompetent, evildoers, or information shufflers certainly not VUCAN leaders or frankly not even good managers. Maybe the critical issue is not the manager or supervisory role, but the ability of a team of VUCANs to work together and for individuals to self manage.
Let’s look at an orchestra conductor. Is this person a VUCAN leader or manager? A great conductor as a leader takes risks, inspires, causes musicians to reach inside themselves, and creates a performance that is greater than the whole. COVID time is also risky for musicians. It’s difficult to fund and pay for an orchestra. An average conductor gets the job done and ensures orchestra employees are well paid. So, I will take an imperfect but passionate performance over an uninspired, technically perfect performance.
Work Lesson Earned: The difference between a VUCAN manager and leader may be noticeable. So, ask yourself these questions: Do you want to be a VUCAN leader? Do you want to be a VUCAN manager? Do you emulate good things you see in others? Do you practice personal continuous improvement? How do you deal with risks?