“Leadership vs. Management”

Without a doubt, every business or professional practice is the brainchild of one or more entrepreneurs. Equally undeniable is the fact that every successful enterprise must have solid, efficient, functional management.  And the fact that the owner/entrepreneur is all too often a poor manager is even more of a truism than the first two statements.

You can hire good managers—but will you?

In fact, in today’s unstable economy, there are more than enough good managers to go around.  But way too many entrepreneur/owners fail to see how a truly great manager can be one of the best investments in their firm’s future, so they put the money they “save” on their bottom line and hire a “yes man” caretaker to handle the jobs they detest. In the final analysis, the business owner smugly puts another $25,000 per year in her pocket without ever taking into account that the same $25,000—invested in a bigger salary to employ a truly excellent manager—may well have increased her firm’s profits by $100,000 per year or more.

Stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime.

In addition to perhaps losing $75,000 in annual profits by “saving” salary on a “marking time, doing what I’m told” puppet, our business owner has also cost herself countless hours of stress and “do over” time wasted on cleaning up messes and unfinished human resources issues. Why? Because a manager who always agrees with you, no matter what, is not good for you or your company. Invariably, if the too-compliant manager is weak-kneed and wishy-washy with you, he’ll replicate that behavior with your employees, vendors, and clients.

So what does leadership have to do with all this?

An entrepreneur/owner may rarely have the sill sets in place to be a great manager, but she almost always has the abilities and personal character traits to become an excellent leader. How so?  Leadership requires intestinal fortitude and a healthy dose of creative imagination, mixed in with a dollop of humility and am extra helping of genuine love for your business and, most of all, your people.

• Leaders CAN hire good managers.

• Managers CANNOT hire great leaders.