Posted 21st April 2023

The news cycle in the UK, and the furore surrounding the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister, has thrown up some interesting debate, around what behaviour is acceptable for people in authority to display towards those that they are responsible for. I think the key word in that last sentence is 'responsible'......  

As leaders, folks have responsibility for the individuals that they hope will follow them. They need to identify their employees as individuals, hopefully get to know a little about them, what makes them tick, what they like/dislike etc, and don't just cop out and idly apply the same old management tactics for all employees. There are plenty of managers that can do that for you, leaders need to be better than that.

Our experience in recent times, where more and more organisations have been forced to embrace some form of remote/hybrid working, means that people leaders are spending less time face to face with their teams. 'Management by Metrics' has become worryingly more common that it needs to be. I am hearing more and more frequently that the ability or desire of leaders to inspire and motivate on a personal/individual basis is on the decline and that employees are feeling more and more that they are just a number on a spreadsheet. This is a surefire way to reduce your workforce numbers, good luck with getting good people to join an organisation with that kind of culture!

Established leaders, or management folks that aspire to leadership positions can often self identify which camp they are in by looking at 7 different pairs of words and choosing the one they feel most comfortable with. The exercise requires honesty, and is best done alone. The idea is to help you work out which side of the fence you instinctively fit, and identify if you want to work on any particular area to make you a better leader. Feel free to try this yourself, pick one word from each pair that you feel most comfortable with or that you think suits your role/responsibility:

Vision or Execution

Inspiration or Co-ordination

Change or Stability

People or Process

Long-term or Short-term

Creativity or Control

Influence or Authority

Interesting right? Obviously, if you selected mostly the left hand words you are more leadership driven, if you selected mostly the right hand words you are more of a manager. Neither of these is a bad thing, but it can help you be better at what you do if you identify which is the best fit for you.

Managers are phenomenally important in any business, using their ability to co-ordinate and oversee operations, manage resources and ensure things are done correctly and efficiently. 

Leaders are able to inspire and motivate others whilst setting clear vision and objectives for the organisation and managers to follow.

Leaders can know how well they are doing by looking in the mirror and asking themselves one question - 'Do people follow me because they want to, or because I tell them to?'

If you would like to explore any of these topics more with the team at Fractional Execs , just reach out and Alan or one of the team would be delighted to further the discussion with you. 

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