LEARNING TO LEAD

Moving on to a greater leadership role

BY Jayashantha Jayawardhana

Even if management and leadership seem to be closely related, it’s important to realise that they differ significantly. While there are plenty of managers around the world, there aren’t as many leaders. Unfortunately, most people who believe that they’re leaders don’t come even close to that position.

A designation or job title doesn’t make one a leader and neither does wealth nor power. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the exact qualities of a leader are still being debated.

The purpose of this article is not to expand on the qualities of a leader but to explain how someone can transition from being a manager to becoming a leader. This process is rather tricky and even the most competent managers can trip up.

And if left unchecked, the worst of them can lead their organisations to an early grave. This refers to managers who are generally competent but fail to cope with the challenges of helming a business.

Let’s take the case of Harald (not his real name) as cited by Michael D. Watkins in his Harvard Business Review (HBR) article titled ‘How Managers Become Leaders: The Seven Seismic Shifts of Perspective and Responsibility.’

Harald is a high potential leader with 15 years of experience at a European chemical company. Starting as an assistant production manager, he was soon transferred to Hong Kong to set up the company’s new Asian business centre. As sales exploded, he became the sales manager, then a regional marketing director overseeing a group of 80 professionals and thereafter, vice president of sales and marketing where he was responsible for managing almost 200 people.

His outstanding accomplishments in this role saw him promoted as the head of the company’s plastic resin unit. It was a well performing business with more than 3,000 employees worldwide and managed by a strong team, which reported to Harald.

This was a good move on the part of the company’s senior management because they wanted him to have exposure to managing the operations of the business beyond sales and marketing. It’s a skill set that’s a prerequisite for higher leadership positions. However, there was trouble a few months later when Harald started over-managing sales and marketing, and undermanaging the other departments in his charge.


Michael Watkins observes: “Harald’s tendency to stay in his functional comfort zone is an understandable reaction to the stresses of moving up to a much broader role. It would be wonderful if newly appointed enterprise leaders were world-class experts in all business functions; but of course, they never are.”

“But the reality is that the move to enterprise leadership always requires executives who’ve been specialists to quickly turn into generalists who know enough about all the functions to run their business,” he notes.

He elaborates: “What is ‘enough’? Enterprise leaders must be able to make decisions that are good for the business as a whole and evaluate the talent in their teams.” He goes on to recommend the seven seismic shifts, which include competencies and new mindsets that are necessary for a successful transition from being a manager to a leader.

GENERALIST You will need to stop being a specialist and become a generalist. You’ll have to cultivate an understanding of all key business functions and how to appraise each leader’s performance. This requires observing how business functions are performed and learning about them through reliable sources.

INTEGRATOR You’ll have to move from being an analyst to an integrator – because you need to manage and integrate the collective knowledge of the cross functional teams to solve important organisational problems. You should be able to see how different departments depend on each other to ensure the seamless operation of the enterprise as a whole.

STRATEGIST You’re no longer a tactician who is safely ensconced in a functional silo. You need to shift deftly between the details and big picture, and spot important patterns in complex environments, as well as prepare for and influence the reactions of key external players.

ARCHITECT You would have to learn how to analyse and design organisational systems that enable strategy, structure, operating models and skill bases to meld together effectively.

AGENDA SETTER You’ll need to move beyond problem solving and identify issues that need to be focussed on, and those that don’t fall clearly into any one function but are still important.

DIPLOMAT You’re no longer a warrior; you should proactively shape the environment in which the business operates by building effective relationships with key external stakeholders including the government, NGOs, the media and investors.

ROLE MODEL You must set an example for your team through exemplary behaviour, which they can emulate. Remember: you’re always being watched!