Crafting Managerial Leadership – CMSB Human Capital
'fusing the art of leadership & the science of management...'
The debates, discussions & deliberations pertaining to the roles of leaders and managers have a long history of which similarities and differences have both been highlighted, scrutinised and dissected by various management gurus and academic scholars alike arriving to no absolute resolve as to whether each is absolutely or mutually exclusive of one another.
As a social unit whether profit or non-profit making, an organisation is a cohesive structure composed by people who share a common goal. It is a vehicle that enables a concerted effort by all its members using all available resources, know-how and skills to attain the goal/s it has set forth in its vision and mission statement.
Whilst the functions of both may probably differ from time to time, it undoubtedly is interchangeable and one may dominate the other; subject to the environment, situation or condition. Hence, it is imperative that they coexist in order to ensure that any issue that arises can be resolved with the right crafts required, prescribed with the right dosage and methodology.
Whilst leadership requires a high level of conceptual & interpersonal adept-ability, management on the other hand requires an ensemble of technology & methodology to execute the tasks at hand.
Whilst leadership requires a degree of statecraft especially when dealing with people of myriad backgrounds, management requires a business acumen of proportions when handling delicate and complex issues or string of tsuris (read trouble) at hand.
And whilst leadership may look at the bigger picture with great insight, clarity and integrity, management needs to look at things in great details with an acute sense of analytic and diagnostic capability to ensure that no stone is left unturned when posed with certain challenges.
These macro and micro perspectives are what tend to separate the two yet at the same time, they are also the very reason for leadership and management to converge and form a soliloquy of solutions to solve standard and non-standard situations systematically.
Using an F1 car as a metaphor, the Leader as the Driver must not be burdened with technical issues of the car as he must focus using the technology of the car and his driving mastery only at winning the race. The Pit Manager on the other hand must focus on deploying his pit crew, state-of-the-art tools & equipment and methodology to ensure that the car is fit enough for the driver to cross the victory line ahead of the others. As much as one is essential, the other is also mutually crucial to seal the deal.
Hence, the armamentarium of knowledge and skillset is inextricably complex and intertwined so much so that it becomes a symbiosis where the lack of one affects the other much akin to Harry Potter & Voldemort (if one follows the Harry Potter saga that is) Thus, the art of leadership and the science of management needs to be focalized to produce a management-led-leadership-managed fusion of craftsmanship that enables any leader or manager to steer his/her organization to peak performance and achieve a height never before attempted in the history of mankind.
At the end of the day, leadership and management are inseparable whether one agrees or otherwise. As much as managers need to be led, leaders on the other hand must also incontrovertibly be managed. This holds true even for political leaders who sometimes are not well-managed and captains of the industry who are not well-led. Regardless, both are equally important in their stewardships at ensuring their respective organizations are responsibly led and managed with unflinching integrity.
Simply put, be it born or made, leaders or managers definitely cannot fully function, perform and triumph with the absence of the other. It is with this very pretext that all leadership and management levels need to be moulded, equipped and prepared with the right mindset, tools and skill-set to take them to a higher level as they rise above the challenges of the new millennium with greater confidence, bravado and resolve.
Champ Hussain
Lead Trainer
CMSB Human Capital Sdn Bhd
At Cerna Minda Institute (CMI), we offer a Professional Diploma of Leadership & Management (PDLM) that will provide your executives, managers and successors-in-line with a multitude of knowledge and skillset that will not only benefit themselves but your organizations too. It is now the time to take on the world with renewed vigor, prudence and insights. Register with us now!
