Leaders Vs Managers

There is a saying. There are many managers but a few leaders and that is true. As is, the term is signatory of what it is. A manager manages the show while a leader leads it. In today’s Corporate culture, Managers are in the front and you know the team by knowing the manager. If a group/team does very well, it is because it behaves like a group/team. It shows maturity as a group/team and it happens only when a group has a leader. A leader need not be and won't be a front runner all the time. Most of the time, Managers fail to understand that they are part of the team. It gets worse when they have multiple teams to handle. Managers drive work/projects and ensure that TAT is met, necessary standards are in place and the work/project is delivered to the clients/customers according to the Work Order. If a work fails,managers do the issue analysis and document errors, write SOPs, come up with Preventive action & have meetings to ensure that this is communicated to the team. Even at this point of the time, it is the Manager vs the team and not the manager and the team. This culture is across groups, domains, locations, companies & even geographies.When something good happens, Managers are trained to appreciate the team and/or individuals. They do it because they are expected to do it. Managers to the Work force ( I strongly identify myself as one among the team),according to my personal view are in many contexts a reflection of what politicians are to common people. A politician would not know on what core values their party was founded on. In fact, I know of an instance when a party worker was expelled from the party because he spoke about the values and ideologies based on which the party was built. Sadly, I have been the victim of such incidents myself but would not care to speak about them. I have learnt a lesson. A very important one. I have taken a vow that none of my people have such experiences. Managers more often than not are also victims. They fall a prey to power,growth,compensation and pride. They succumb to the pressure from above and I have seen some who feverishly and blindly follow instructions to the word and in the process fail to understand that they deal with people and that everything that is built are for the people to perform. The system, tools, policies, infrastructure, facilities are all in place for people to perform. The problem/divide starts with the approach. Managers think that workforce should be trained to fit in to the existing models/systems. It is not the existing models/systems in place that are a problem. It is the approach. Appraisals are done not keeping in mind the contributions of the workforce in the past year but what utilization can be derived from the work force in the future. There are no two ways about it. Many a facts can be submitted to challenge this but yet the truth remains the same. Rewards & recognition are used to ensure that disgruntled, disengaged, about to leave employees of the company are given something to stay back. Rewards & recognition play a major role in the final Attrition % of the company for a given year. Is it supposed to be like that? I thought R&R is a tool used to reward performance and recognize the talent. Managers often fail to understand that there is only a thin line of difference between Hypocrisy & Diplomacy. I hate the word pleasing for one main reason. People please others either in return of the favor or for the want of a futuristic one. I strongly believe that the word pleasing is almost out of the context in today’s corporate world when it comes to the workforce reporting to us.Managers should touch our hearts and see if we can recover any instance from our memory where we were out pleasing our work force without any strings attached. It is a true reflection of self. No one needs to know. You are the knower and you are the known. I know that some of us won’t even be doing this genuinely because we have such auto self defenses in place. We have been groomed like that. It takes more to be true. It takes an understanding that the sky will still be blue and you will still live. One should understand that it is good to feel bad. What is bad is doing something bad and not having an understanding that you have done bad. Let’s take a peep in to a leader's role/world. Leaders drive workforce and deliver them to success. Leaders are visionaries. When there is a failure, leaders address it stating that "they" have failed and not "you" have failed. When something great happens, leaders take the backseat and owe it to the team. It gives them such pride when they see their team or member of their team in the spotlight of fame/recognition. I have seen it happen. They are genuine and they understand. If someone is in the corporate world long enough, they will know that they have witnessed similar incidents/issues when they encounter fresh problems. A Leader is wise enough to know this and endures to address the problem and not to victimize anybody. Finding a leader, is like sighting a tiger in the forest but yet, I had the chance to work with such a leader. When there is a problem, leaders understand that they should kill the problem and not the person who caused it. Leaders have time for everything. Leaders know that what is important to a fellow worker may not be important to them but yet respect every individual's choice and space. It takes more than class rooms to become Leaders. It takes character and core moral values infused in the blood stream to be an authentic leader. The only way to bring out more leaders is to harness the work force and channelize their raw potential. Every individual is an unpolished diamond. You need to criticize & appreciate where and when necessary. 90% of an individual's learning at all levels comes from a direct perception of what he/she sees. Head of a group should walk the talk and practice what he/she preaches. It is a continuous process. Just being diplomatic does not help. One needs to be authentic. There is no assurance that all those whom we groom will stick to the company, but be assured that we have made the right choices. Be assured that whomever we have with us will be authentic.