The Genius of the 'AND'

 

Ty posted an interesting piece on leadership that I commented on, and am about to expound upon here.  He referred to successful project work being led, not managed.

I'm going to disagree, at least slightly on what may just amount to terminology.

Successful project-based work is led AND managed.

There is a false dichotomy between leadership and management that I often see. While it is true that you can be a leader without being a manager, and you can be a manager without being a leader, the highest state (for a project manager) to achieve is both simultaneously. As my former PM mentor and engineer Brian Bernhard used to say, it's the "genius of the AND".

A general, CEO, technical innovator, or scientist can get away with being a great leader and lousy manager if and only if they surround themselves with great managers. The general and CEO in that case rely on their vision and strategic capabilities, and the technical innovator and scientist rely on their ability to create movements through technical breakthroughs.

A team manager can get away with being a great manager and a lousy leader if the environment doesn't call for innovation or great leaps forward; change is infrequent and most of the activity is similar to the way it was the day before or last year. Here, you need a great manager who understands how to manage people effectively day-in and day-out.

For a project manager, you really need to aspire to having both qualities. With the change and constant need to generate and sustain momentum towards a common goal, you can't be successful for long without developing at least a minimum amount of both qualities.

 

Leadership is a sexy attribute that everyone wants to be associated with.  However, do not forget about the importance of effective management.  Frankly, I don't want to hire project managers who can not manage teams, stakeholders, and projects effectively.

To use a sports analogy, it's about blocking and tackling combined with inspiration and empowerment.  A good coach needs to be effective at both leadership and management, not one or the other.

We are project coaches.