Management and Leadership...

Management and Leadership are quite BIG words to be discussed or spoken about by a small person like me. I am not giving any management gyan about them, just want to pen down what little I understand.

  
This is a small cartoon which mostly represents management & leadership and how different they are. For most of us they both are same or superficially appear to be same. If you spend sometime thinking about it, they actually are quite different.

I shall try to explain it with a simple example-

When we talk about Indian housewives, the picture that comes to our mind is a middle aged woman in saree, in a kitchen, making lunch boxes for her kids and husband. The kids have school at 9am and she has to make breakfast and lunch by 8.30am. She has to ensure kids are ready for school and husband is ready for work in time (Clothes are ironed, kids have all required books in their school bags). She gets up by 6 or 6.30 am for it. In a span of 2 hours she has to ensure everything goes as she planned (no power cuts, milkman delivers milk on time, vegetable vendor gives fresh vegetables etc). If things go as planned she is all set, eventually breakfast and lunch are ready by 8.30am. She plans the previous night what she is going to cook for breakfast or lunch. And definitely it has to be the favorite puri sabzi or aloo paratha and not same old bread-jam. This is MANAGEMENT (as per my understanding). 
Now lets say, during her 2 hrs marathon, something breaks, the milkman didn't turn up or there was a power cut. Husband and kids are sleeping and she can't wake them up else she will have to listen about the disturbed sleep for next 2 weeks. She quickly goes to the nearby shop and gets milk or goes to the neigbour's seeking help. She might have to heat water on gas stove (which will affect her cooking time) and also might have to get the clothes ironed from the local laundry guy pleading him to give it in 5-10mins. But at the end of all this struggle she has to ensure things go as scheduled and planned. She won't blame the kids that may be they should get the clothes ironed themselves or demanded that they wanted their favorite dishes for breakfast and lunch. Or she won't blame the husband for not paying the electricity bill understanding that he is overburdened at work. This is LEADERSHIP (again as per my understanding :); I have to be careful else I am sure I will get lot of gyan on this by everyone :P).

Well most of us (hoping most of us work with Indian Managers) at some or other point have hated our bosses, trust me all of us have done it. That is a common human tendency, no one is perfect and hence, there will be differences. But how many of us have cribbed about our managers every single day?? Well for the few of us, who said Yes - There is some serious problem with your boss then! Earlier when there were only government sectors in India the hierarchy was pretty clear - You have a boss(manager) and you are a subordinate or reportee. It is the same work you do every day. And your promotions are based on your experience and not your work. But these days it is more a team structure - You work as a team, where there are 4-5 people working with you. And you have one person who is your team lead or project manager, who heads your team. The team structure is more performance based. You are given the liberty to think outside the box, try new things, innvoate, make mistakes and learn from them. Team structure looks so appealing. Every one of us wishes to work in a team like this right??

Whom are we kidding??? How many of us actually work in a team which is so ideal?? Well, if anyone says - Yes, I would say - You are lucky, don't leave the team. Most of us, I have seen get in old vicious circle of hierarchical management, where you have to do what your boss says and try to follow his instructions, because his boss wanted things in a certain way. Well, I am not saying anything is right or wrong but if it has to be so instruction driven then we better shift back to our old government systems where your work is same for years and it doesn't matter whether you come at 9am or 12pm. Let us not be hypocrites and use management jargon's - be a team player, own your work, think out of the box or enjoy your work. When we are not creating an environment where a person can be himself and try to think on his own, we have no rights to showcase ourselves as a team. Not everyone is same and neither their abilities nor their caliber. Comparing two individuals on the basis of the way they present their work is very wrong. When you can hire people from diverse backgrounds (low economic backgrounds, poor English knowledge etc) just to ensure your team or company bags DIVERSITY tag in the market, then might as well build the patience in your employees to tolerate the mistakes these new hires from DIVERSE backgrounds make.

Well you would have seen lot of managers (Yes! I will never call them leaders, not worth it) complain about their team members- 

- You have no time sense, you come late to work (Yes! who was working late last night to finish the assignment?)
- You go for 3-4 coffee breaks in a day (Yes! for the amount of unnecessary pressure you put on us, only rescue if Caffeine. THANK YOUR GOD, that they don't serve liquor in the cafeteria)
- You go for long lunch breaks (Yes! For the crowd at food court, I am lucky I get to eat peacefully with my friends on a single table. Also science says you should eat your food very slowly)
- You are hardworking but not SMART working (True! as soon as we enter office we have to switch off our brains, as we have to listen to whatever you say! Hence, only HARD work and no SMART Work)
- You have an attitude problem (Yes! after our mind and time being hijacked by you, only thing left with us is attitude and you have a problem with that also??)
- Why can't you do it like how the other team does (Oh is it? Why can't you be like their boss?)
- You should prioritize your tasks and plan your day (Very right! I had a plan till I walked in the office but your task list changed my priorities and plan. And look who complains?)
- Don't come to me with a problem, come with a solution (Wow!! If only I had the deciding power I would have implemented the solution already and would never come to you)
- Why were you late for the meeting? (Seriously?? How about those days when you turn up 15mins late, as you were gossiping with your best friend on who got promoted whereas I just got delayed to attend Nature's call!)
- Why don't you answer my call on weekends or during your leaves?(What?? I see and hear you 5 days a week, isn't that enough torture?)
- Why are you falling sick so often? Our work is not stressful (Yeah.. Work is never stressful but YOU are!)
- At your level you should know all this (Is it? If I knew it then I would have been your boss :P )
- You should explore and upgrade your skills (For anything that I do apart from my assigned work, I am questioned and you expect me to try something new?? )
- Since you got promoted you have lost focus and interest in your work (Yes! I need to get a eye checkup as to how can I still tolerate your atrocities?)
- You should be positive and not think like this (Dude! I am an adult and can think on my own, please stop enforcing your philosophy on me)
- Why do you want leave? (Are you my mother or father or spouse that I need to tell you what will I do with my leave?)
- You can be frank, I am open to feedback (Are you kidding? if I had to give you feedback, it would be a 5 yr planning program)

Well there are many more, but these were just a few example! 

The best leader I have seen is M.S.Dhoni. No wonder, every single Indian admires him. He never forces the players to play his game but empowers them to play their individual game. I have always seen him TRUST his players. Every player faces a lot of pressure when they are in the last over of a nail biting final match. But he always tells his players - Enjoy your game and play your natural game. He doesn't expect the players to lose their natural talent and play the game as Dhoni wants them to play (Remember, they were selected for their natural talent). Think about the amount of pressure he might be handling. Billions of fans, BCCI, his team, family and in fact entire cricket community across the world expects from him. He soaks up this enormous pressure, puts up a smile and inspires the players. When required, he comes on the field and finishes the game for his team and country. That's what a true leader does. He doesn't blame anyone or hold anyone accountable for failures. He always says - 'WE' and not 'I'. He gives the players liberty to do what they do best and turns that into a victory. He is always a motivation and inspiration. And yes, he didn't go to any management institute or workshop, but ironically management institutes are conducting classes and programs to learn from his leadership skills.
 
We might think, that we don't play for nation and we are not Dhoni. Agreed! but all of us face pressure at some point in our work. That pressure moment differentiates a manager and a leader. How you handle the pressure says everything about you. You can either hold your team accountable, pressurize them (even when they are aware of the deadline), ask the status every 30mins and basically micro manage them. In this situation, definitely they tend to make mistakes and screw up the whole thing. Or you can help them out, discuss for a solution, work with them, share some work and empower them to do what they feel right and make the task a huge success. It is totally up to you. 

Some people might argue that there are team members who run away from work, are lazy etc. Talk to them, all that shows a lack of interest in the work. If they are not interested in the work, give them the freedom to move out. But for others, who work with you - 
Trust your team, give them credit for the amount of effort they put in. 
If you can't appreciate their work, at least acknowledge it. 
Understand every person in the team, know their positives and negatives, and if possible, assign the tasks as per their talent. 
Take them for a coffee atleast once a month. 
Encourage them and don't force them. 
Help them and don't humiliate them. 
For a minute, be in their shoes and gauge the tasks. 
There are times when you might lose your temper and scold them. Happens! apologise to them, when you are alright. 

After all, they are also HUMAN BEINGS and not ROBOTS..

You are a MANAGER to manage WORK and NOT PEOPLE.. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more then you are LEADING!!!