Are You Leading or Managing?

By: Jimi Ball, TAB Derby & East Midlands

One of the main challenges small and medium-sized business owners face is effectively leading their organisations. Many find themselves bogged down in the day-to-day tasks of managing the business rather than focusing on the bigger picture and driving growth. This can lead to feeling like a Chief Engineer, constantly working on the engine's mechanics, rather than a Captain, steering the ship towards its destination.

Business owners need to step back and evaluate the type of organisation they run. Is it a small pleasure boat that requires only a few hands on deck or a large ocean liner that necessitates a team of leaders? Understanding the size and needs of your business can help you identify where you need to focus your efforts and resources.

To truly lead your business, delegating responsibilities and trusting your team to handle the day-to-day operations are crucial. This will free up your time to focus on the bigger picture and make strategic decisions that will drive growth and success for your organisation.

Captaining the Ship

Being a leader is important to running a successful business, regardless of its size. As a business owner, you are responsible for setting the direction and vision for your organisation. In a small business, the leader may need to take on multiple management tasks, but in a larger organisation, there may be others to handle these tasks. However, knowing when and how to use your leadership skills effectively is key.

Just like a pleasure boat captain must ensure the direction of travel is safe and accurate, a business leader must also be able to guide their organisation towards success. It's important to strike a balance between being hands-on with the day-to-day operations and also taking a step back to focus on the bigger picture. In larger organisations, the leader should be able to handle management tasks and delegate responsibilities to their team members.

It is often a misunderstood and neglected aspect of business ownership, the necessity for leadership. As Stephen Covey puts it:

“Management is a bottom-line focus: How can I best accomplish certain things? Leadership deals with the top line: What are the things I want to accomplish?

In the words of both Peter Drucker and  Warren Bennis, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

Set the direction

So, is your ladder leaning where you want it? Are you “doing the right things”? If you haven’t considered this for a while then I would recommend standing back and looking at where your ladder is placed! Do you have a strategic plan? Where will you be in 1, 3 or 5 years? Does all your team know what they need to do as part of the plan? Strategic planning is essential and it’s your task, as Leader of your business, to ensure it’s in place and being implemented.

You don’t have to do this alone. In fact, it’s important that you don’t, as the plan can become narrowly focused and with the best will in the world, you can’t be expected to see things from every angle. Rather, you can (and should) involve other key people both outside of and within your business.

Make a Plan!

Commit to creating a plan – it’s your main task! Show leadership by involving your key people in setting the plan! Write it down so it’s not just in your head! Show leadership by letting those key people implement their part of the plan. Show leadership by ensuring that accountability is a key driver in your business. That way you’ll have a better chance of the plan being achieved or, put another way, of climbing to the top of the ladder and arriving exactly where you wanted to.

In short...

Being a leader is about more than just doing the work. It's about guiding the work towards a common goal. A leader should be able to focus on the organisation's direction and make strategic decisions that drive growth and success.