A Manager who goes beyond overseeing day-to-day processes and works to keep his team motivated and inspired towards delivering the vision becomes a leader.

Joan was assigned to lead the new Family Planning program at her organization. The program was fully fledged with a goal, assessment, design, planning and Monitoring and evaluation framework. Joan’s responsibility was to lead a team of staff that would mobilize social and institutional structures for accelerated uptake of modern family planning methods by women, men, and young people.

As Team leader, Joan had participated in the development of issue papers that informed the situation analysis and the program development process. She had also actively participated in the processes that aligned the program to the organization’s strategic focus and the development and management of result-based annual work plans. Joan embarked on developing a division of labor for the staff on the program largely to clarify on roles and responsibilities of each team member, avoid duplication of efforts and resources, and improve on program effectiveness. As the program progressed, Joan placed a keen eye on organizing the team members, coordinating the technical support required in the different sections of the program, managing and monitoring resource allocation, and synthesizing program reports, activities she was convinced she executed exceptionally well.

So when she was told by management that the program did not perform to the expectations of the organization, her shock was visible. The program had only attained 60 percent against the set 98 percent implementation rate. Besides, the program failed to leverage resources from family planning partners and stakeholders. Although new partnerships were formed during the program implementation period, they were uncoordinated and lacked a clear focus. An end-program evaluation revealed that better organization of the partners could have enabled pooling of technical and financial resources but leadership and governance of the partner network was wrought with rivalries and conflict fueled by what seemed to be a struggle for resources. The program team was demotivated, disengaged, and lacked direction.

When was the last time you faced a strong leadership challenge in your team? Joan’s scenario is not uncommon in teams. The scenario gives us an opportunity to examine two related concepts i.e. leadership and management.

According to the American Historian and authority on leadership studies James MacGregor Burns, leaders are vision setters. They create an inspiring vision for the future. Leaders are motivators

They motivate and inspire people to embrace and engage with the set vision. On the other hand managers are vision deliverers. They manage the delivery of the vision by planning, organizing, coordinating implementing, supervising, and monitoring processes and resources to achieve the set vision. Managers help build a team that is effective in achieving the vision.

In practice, these attributes are often shared. Some leaders manage and some managers lead. When a leader ensures that the work needed to deliver the vision is properly planned, organized, and coordinated either by him or through delegation of responsibility, the leader becomes a manager

On the other hand, a manager who goes beyond overseeing day-to-day processes and works to keep his team motivated and inspired towards delivering the vision becomes a leader. Such a manager will establish the direction or goal for the team. She builds the commitment of the team members to the organization’s vision, mission and values. She inspires team members by valuing and encouraging their inputs and suggestions and stimulates constructive discussion of different points of view, focusing on the organization’s strategic objectives, vision or values.

Leaders recognize that to keep the vision alight they must continue motivating and inspiring their team members. Leaders recognize the fact that visions fade with time unless they are connected with individuals’ needs, goals, and aspirations. The leader must keep the vision inspiring otherwise it fades.

As a leader, it’s your job to keep the members of your team motivated and enthusiastic about their work and focused on the vision. It is therefore important to strike a balance between management and leadership.

A manager who leads exemplifies this balance. Such a manager aligns team objectives, aspirations, and priorities with the broader vision, mission, and values of the organization as well as creates an environment where team members consistently push to improve performance and productivity. She ensures the practical needs of the team and team members are met as well as makes sure the team’s tasks are completed. Such a leader would accept responsibility for the team’s actions and results

It is this balance that Joan perhaps failed to strike. While she can be credited for managing the processes well, she needed to provide leadership to the team. This means focusing the team towards a vision, and providing direction, motivation, and inspiration.

Effective leadership creates an inspiring vision for the future, motivates and inspires people to embrace and engage with the vision, manages the processes to deliver the vision, and nurtures and builds a robust team that is effective in achieving the vision.

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Featured Resources

• INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: THE POWER OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONVERSATION
• E-MAIL COACHING PROGRAM: TRANSFORMING YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER : LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR SUCCESS
• PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL : WHEN THE SNAKE IS IN THE WATER POT
• CAREER PROGRESSION : LOST AT THE TOP OF THE LADDER
• ENTROPY AT LUNCH : LOOKING FOR THE LEADER WITHIN
• TABLE 6.4: INDICATOR DEFINITIONS FOR SELECTED PROMOTIVE AND LIMING FACTORS TO PERFORMANCE
• THE EXPRESS EXPERTISE CAREER CLUB MEMBERSHIP

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