Know the difference between leadership and management to choose the best candidate for the job

One of the greatest rewards in MSO upper management is the opportunity to play a role in advancing the career of your staff. Especially in todays tight hiring market, we often find ourselves moving people from one shop to another, filling staffing gaps as well as providing advancem ent opportunities. I've seen m any examples where, over a period of time, detailers become parts people, then parts managers, then production managers, then estimators and then shop m anagers. Or at least m any experience some portion of the typical advancement path. Of course, each role has its own needs in terms of talents and abilities. People with good work ethic and reasonable intelligence tend to learn and adapt, and most succeed over a period of time. Yet the step into true m anagem ent roles that include supervising other people and assuming a higher level of responsibility is different. Here we are dealing with not simply becoming a m anager but also becoming a leader. Advancing people into such roles is the most challenging in terms of helping them understand what it takes to succeed. It is also the most rewarding for all involved when success occurs. What's the difference? Wikipedia says, "M anagement includes the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its em ployees or volunteers to accom plish its objectives through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological and hum an resources." Wikipedia defines leadership as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support cf others in the accomplishment of a common task.” Do you see the difference: Manage m ent is about strategy, organization and coordinating. Leadership is about social influence of others in accom plishing tasks. The difference is in the hearts and minds of people! A manager can probably cause someone to perform a task simply because they told them to do so. A leader will cause that person to WANT to accomplish the task. In die second instance, die person may be motivated by a sense of personal or team accom plishm ent; it could be that they are inspired to please the leader; it may be that they see die accomplishment as a positive outcome for themselves or others; or it could be for a num ber of other reasons. But the difference is that the leader caused a reaction inside the person that causes them to have a desire to accom ­ plish the task instead of performing the task simply because they were told to do so. That is the net effect of good leadership skills. Good managers do diings right. Good leaders do the right things. Are leaders bom or developed? A little bit of online research from "experts” revealed a num ber of perceptions, but most indicated diat the answer is "both.” One source said that best estim ates offered by research is that leadership is about one-third born and tw o-thirds made. Hie fact that leadership is mostly m ade is good news for those of us involved in leadership development. Yet, there are som e inborn characteristics that predispose people to be and become leaders. Courage is among the most important traits. Being bold, assertive or risktaking can be advantageous for leaders. Leaders also need to be smart to analyze situations and figure out courses of action. Intelligence is associated with leadership; perhaps not general IQ, but social intelligence — understanding social situations and processes — is the com ponent of intelligence that is important for leadership. Finally, some sort of empathy, or ability to know followers, is also advantageous for leaders, although m uch of this is learned. One study involving m any Army officers set out to develop a leadership model that identifies the leadership factors that create top perform ance. The result of the research was a skills-based m odel of leadership th at connects a leader's know ledge and skills to his/ her perform ance. The model is a capabilities model and suggests that people have the potential for leadership as long as they are capable of learning from their experiences. The study concluded that leadership capabilities can be developed over time through education and experience (Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, et al, 2000) and is not reserved for the gifted few. In sum m ary, the research asserts that through job experience and training, individuals can becom e better problem solvers and leaders. Practical application I've seen m any examples of collision repair businesses promoting people into a key management role — often shop m anager — before the person was prepared. In some cases the person will never be prepared simply because of their own natural traits. Often the person has been an exem plary estimator. The ability to create estimates, negotiate with insurers, sell work and interact with customers is helpful. But the responsibility to motivate, critique, discipline, hire, fire, maintain performance and quality standards, and be accountable to upper m anagem ent and owners for shop performance is entirely different. It is, for the most part, die transition from follower to leader. While people like the idea of gaining the new title and advancing their careers, some experience a very unsettling surprise. Some see dieir shop's performance decline and are not sure what die cause is. Some have an idea of the cause but they may not know how to fix it. Some have an idea of how to fix it but are uncomfortable confronting the issue. If you have ever been in the position of having to confront a cranky, belligerent body or paint tech who is much older than you are to change their behavior, you understand what I am referring to. It is not for the faint of heart. You may realize that the event will shape the entire shop's reaction and culture for the near future. I’ve seen some new m anagers ignore the issue and occupy diemselves in other areas of perceived importance. I’ve seen som e postpone the event: “It's Friday. I w on’t ruin their weekend. I'll talk to them next week," or “It’s hard to get new techs. We need to be flexible.” Then often the new m anager feels dim inished, weakened and uncertain of their abilities and may start to question if they are the right person for the job. Instead, it is up to us in upper management to first select die right people. Remember diat leaders must have some natural abilities as well as education and training. Become a coach Once your new manager is in place, it is critical to work closely with them to establish the right leadership insights and approach to issues. Their new set cf responsibilities are primarily people issues. There is a seemingly infinite number of different approaches to people to get the best results. Frequent discussions, and coaching sessions witii die new manager are invaluable. Flelp them establish their style. Help them understand what different styles look like, how they behave, and what the outcomes are. Encourage the new manager to read and study m anagem ent/leadership approaches. Empower your new manager, yet stay close enough to them to “keep diem between die guardrails.” Select great can d id ates and help them to becom e leaders. The rew ards for you and those around you will be incredible.

Kaynak:

Auto Body Repair Network. Jul2017 Supplement, p12-14. 2p.