Management,and,Leadership,Cont business, insurance Management and Leadership: A Continuum of Teach and Release
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For years, Ivestudied management and leadership theories. Everyone says basically the same thing. Managers manage and leaders lead. Everyone wants to do the same thinglead and not manage. In thinking about thisconundrum while talking with an executive client, it occurred to me that goodleaders are also good managers. In otherwords, its not a question of either managing or leading. Its a question ofdoing both and doing them at the right time, knowing when to manage and knowingwhen to lead.Our job as managers isto make sure our people do their jobs. We are told to keep our people doing whatever they do in a productivemanner. Make sure they come to work ontime, leave on time, and perform efficiently. To some managers, this means watching and micro-managing those theysupervise. To others, it means doing thejob themselves to make sure the job gets done correctly. Good managers dont do either of those two things.Recently, someone said this during one of my workshops, Its much easier to doit myself. The essence of goodmanagement is to teach and release. Ittakes more time, yes. But, in the longrun, it saves time. The teach and releasetheory means you adjust your style from management to leadership asneeded. Leadership is all aboutmotivating by building confidence. Leadership is all about inspiring. Some leaders think they inspire by neglect. In other words, they believe that if they letthe person alone, give them no guidance, it inspires learning. Others believe they inspire by holding outcarrots. If I give you something, youllperform your job the way I want it. Goodleadership means taking the time to build confidence and to inspire throughsolid communication. Good leadershipmeans letting go when the time is right and lending a helping hand whennecessaryteaching and releasing.Heres how goodmanagement and good leadership work in tandem in the Teach and Release Model:Stage 1: The Learning Stage. In this phase, the person knows nothing aboutthe task. He is new to the task anddesires to learn how to do the job. InStage 1, the manager must manage. Theperson wants the manager to direct and to show him what to do. What is acceptable behavior? What does a completed task look like? What are the expectations? Close direction means close management.Stage 2: The Confidence Stage. In this phase, the person knows how to do thetask but is not yet comfortable with doing it. The person fears she might make a mistake. The manager lets go of the reigns and allowsthe person to do the task alone. Themanager even allows the person to make mistakes. The person learns from the mistakes andbuilds confidence in doing the task. Themanager stays close, but not too close. The person feels inspired by her confidence in doing the task and by themanagers willingness to allow her to learn on her own and to give support whenneeded. Imagine a child learning towalk. The child gets up and fallsdown. The parent allows the child tofall but protects the child from falling down a cliff. In Stage 2, the manager becomes that helpfulparent.Stage 3: The Accomplishment Stage. In this phase, the person is completing thetask with confidence. The manager stillsigns off on the final completion and tweaks and teaches as he goes. For the most part, however, the person iscompleting the task successfully without interference from the manager. Stage 4: The Letting Go Stage. Finally, the manager turns into aleader. To do so means letting go of thetask. In Stage 4, the leader no longerneeds to review the final result. Hetells the person, I have confidence in you to complete the tasksuccessfully. The leader lets go andthe person continues to do the task, not because of pressure or carrots. The person performs the task with excellencebecause she wants to. That is theessence of motivationdoing something because you want to.As you can see inlooking at the Teach and Release Model,the management and leadership functions run along a continuum. More management exists in the early stagesand less in the latter stages where leadership surfaces. Who wants a manager who gives no directionfrom the get-go? Who wants a leader whomicro-manages a task you can do blindfolded?
Management,and,Leadership,Cont