Managers and Leaders Who Can: How you survive and succeed in the new economy

CHAPTER 2

MANAGING YOURSELF AND LEADING OTHERS

My question to you is would you want to work for a leader who can’t manage or a manager who can’t lead? It’s not an either/or, it’s a both.

Stefan Stern, Director of Strategy, Edelman

A great deal of time, effort and debate has been devoted to separating ‘management’ from ‘leadership’.

I want to reunite the two concepts, which can live very happily together. Leaders need strong and up-to-date management skills, and if they are to be effective in their roles, managers need to understand how to get others to follow them.

In today’s flatter, less hierarchical structures, the boundaries of leadership and management are becoming increasingly blurred. Organisations need strong leadership at the helm, but they also need all their managers to take personal responsibility for motivating and empowering their teams.

Being able to manage yourself effectively is an essential prerequisite for leading others. You win the right to lead by role-modelling the behaviour you expect of others. Your competence in the key management disciplines enables you to drive the performance you need from your people.

The business world we now inhabit is moving very fast. Leaders and managers must rise to the challenge of keeping their knowledge and skills up-to-date.

This chapter gives practical guidance on how to effectively manage yourself and how to develop the skills you need to inspire others. It provides some tools and techniques that you can use to assess ...