Many many years ago, Ross and I went to the bank with my father to help him consolidate his accounts.
He had been dealing with the same bank manager for years and to our surprise, the bank manager had left and been replaced by a young woman.
Listening to the way she spoke to the staff and the way she confidently advised us that she would get the team to do the tasks because she was a “manager”, led me to think she hadn’t had a lot of leadership training.
Sadly, this situation is quite common.
Many people aspire to leadership and management positions but it’s not until they get into the roles that they realise that there is a lot more responsibility required before they reap the rewards.
As the leader you now have to step up. Your team are watching. They want a role model.
You can be friendly, you can’t be their friend. Why not? Because it’s challenging to go out and socialise over the weekend and then have to come in and hold your friend accountable for poor performance on Monday.
The rewards are there, however they are not free. There is a cost and that cost is responsibility.
Your team need your support. They want your attention. They want feedback. They want training. They want smooth operations.
Leadership is about doing the right things and management is about doing things right. Leadership and management are not mutually exclusive.
Whilst beginning leaders and managers often perceive they are going to have the freedom and autonomy to come and go as they please, in reality, they end up working longer to make sure everything and everyone is working well.
And let’s not forget the increase in pay. This too is appealing to new leaders and managers. I remember when I was promoted to COO at Kip McGrath Education Centres and became the most senior non family executive, Kip said to me, “That’s why you get paid the big bucks. If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
Being a leader and a manager is not easy.
It requires different skills to technical skills. You are reliant on your people to do the work and they may have different values and beliefs to you. They get sick. They go on holidays. You need to know how to deal with the “people issues”.
You need to know how to have those conversations – to hold people accountable, to give them feedback, to encourage when they lose confidence, to listen when they need to be heard.
These are known as “soft skills” but there is nothing soft about these skills. Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO since 2014 says that “the soft skills are the hardest skills to master”.
If you’re a leader or manager, I expect you’ve experienced most, if not all of the above.
If you’re new to leading and managing, take heart, you’re on a journey of self-discovery and personal and professional development.
Know that it is possible to take on the responsibility and enjoy the rewards. It might just be a bit bumpy at the start.
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