Do today's leaders and managers receive adequate training and
development? The answer is probably yes. However, could the
training and development do a better job of equipping them for
success? The answer is again yes.
More often than not, developmental training (training to prepare an
individual for the next higher position) is overlooked, inserted
into a person's career at an inappropriate time, or lumped together
with other inappropriate training. This is often seen when dealing
with leadership and managerial skills. You cannot merely throw
leadership and managerial training at an individual and expect that
he or she will be able to recall important facets from the training
years later. The timing of leadership and managerial training is as
critical as the training itself.
Leadership Versus Management
There is a difference between leadership and
management. Generally speaking, leaders energize and
inspire their followers. Managers, however, take care of the more
routine details.
According to Learning to Lead authors W.G. Bennis and J.
Goldsmith, "There is a profound difference, a chasm, between
leaders and managers.... Managing is about efficiency. Leading is
about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what
and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures,
policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust, about
people.... Leadership is about innovating and initiating....
Leadership is creative, adaptive, and agile. Leadership looks at
the horizon, not just the bottom line."
With this in mind, when is the most appropriate time for leadership
and managerial training and development? The best approach is to
provide development training prior to the individual being
selected to a higher-level position. The next few paragraphs
outline the appropriate timing and development efforts for
first-line supervisors, middle management, executives, and
administrators.
First-Line Supervisors
First-line supervisors require a significant amount of leadership
training. The training should focus on people skills,
communication, problem solving, team building, counseling, and
motivating and energizing. Why? Because the first-line supervisor
communicates the task requirements to each worker and influences
each worker to perform effectively and efficiently. Successful
first-line supervisors interact with subordinate workers on a daily
basis and know them on a personal level to effectively motivate
them.
However, managerial skills (planning, organizing, coordinating,
directing, and controlling) also are needed. These supervisors need
to be involved with operational-level planning and organizing (what
worker is assigned to work on what task) as well as operational
level directing (supervision of workers as they execute assigned
tasks). Although first-line supervisors still need these managerial
skills and some training in these skill sets should be provided,
the emphasis for success should focus on leadership
skills.
As a first-line supervisor prepares to advance to middle
management, intensive managerial training should be provided.
Middle Managers
The middle manager's effort focuses on tasks such as budgeting and
allocating resources, tactical level planning, coordinating between
departments, and monitoring the implementation of control
mechanisms within the department, managerial tasks.
However, leadership skills are not completely absent. Middle
managers still need to demonstrate solid leadership to their
subordinate supervisors, keeping them motivated and energized. And
although the middle managers typically are not in daily contact
with the line workers, their decisions do affect the workers.
Leadership skills are required. However, the leadership skills
developed prior to becoming a first-line supervisor should be
adequate.
As a senior middle manager prepares to advance to the next level,
it is important to capitalize on the leadership and managerial
skills already in use and learn the skills required by
administrators. Developmental training should consist of additional
managerial training, especially in the area of strategic
planning and policy development.
Executives
Organizational executives have a greater requirement for
leadership skills. This type of leadership differs from
that required for the first-line supervisor; it deals more with
visionary leadership, looking into the future, determining
the direction the organization will go, what actions are needed to
get there, and inspiring workers to help achieve organizational
success. Executives need leadership skills to determine
and set the direction for the organization and energize everyone to
achieve the organization's goals.
Obviously, managerial skills are not completely absent. Executives
still become involved with some managerial tasks (budgeting,
planning, and so forth), however, not nearly as extensively as the
lower-level managers and administrators. The managerial skills
acquired and developed throughout the middle manager and
administrator levels typically are sufficient for those in
executive positions.
Administrators
The executives develop the organization's vision and pass it to the
administrators to develop and implement the organizational policies
that will help achieve that vision. Therefore, being the first
echelon from the top, which develops the strategic plans,
establishes budgets, and allocates resources, administrators
primarily are involved with managerial tasks. However,
senior administrators need to begin developing their visionary
leadership skills in preparation for advancement into the executive
ranks.
Summary
Training should not focus on the skills required for an
individual's current position, but rather on the skills
required at the next level. If organizations provide the
requisite skills training too early, much will be forgotten by the
time those skills are needed. Or if the training is provided while
the individual is currently employed in a position, valuable time
and opportunities to maximize the use of those skills may have been
lost. The timing of the skills developmental training is critical
to the success of the individual and the organization.