Leading People. Peter Mills
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are accountable for delivering the work defined by their manager. Managers have this same requirement for both delivering their outputs and demonstrating the behaviors required of all employees. In the area of behaviors, these requirements are arguably at a higher standard.
Managers, however, have additional accountabilities beyond those of non-managers. They are accountable for the output and behavior of their team. While all employees are accountable for delivering their work, a manager is also accountable for the work outputs and behaviors of their direct reports. This means managers cannot blame individual team members for not delivering the output that the manager’s manager requires, or for poor behavior of team members, as the manager is accountable for the outputs and behavior of the team. This is a requirement for all managers, from the CEO down to a frontline manager.
Managers get work done through their direct reporting team. So managers are accountable for building and leading an effective team so that each team member is fully committed and capable of moving in the direction set. They set the purpose and direction of their team and enable team members to move along together in that direction with competence, commitment and enthusiasm, dealing with obstacles on the way. They are accountable for building the capability of their team to achieve the outputs.
Managers build and lead an effective team by delivering the performance management sequence. This sequence starts with effective role design, followed by selection for the role, then induction of the individual into the role. It continues while the individual is working in the role. Each part of the sequence has a different emphasis with the same goal: having fully loaded roles filled with people capable of doing their work. This sequence is shown in the diagram below.
Role design establishes the role in the organization. It sets out its business reason, its purpose and objectives, its accountabilities and authorities, and its working relationships with other roles. See “Principle 6: Create Effective Roles and Put Good People in Them.”
Selection identifies and appoints an individual whose capability is judged to best suit the capability requirements of the role. See “Principle 6: Create Effective Roles and Put Good People in Them.”
Induction familiarizes those selected with the work of the role, its relationships with other roles and the incumbents in those roles, the systems of work including the policies and work processes relating to the role, an overview of the typical tasks, the current priority tasks of the role and the performance requirements of the role. See “Principle 8: Coach and Develop Your Team”
Assigning and assessing work is a foundation condition for individual performance effectiveness. The manager assigns clear tasks and then monitors the individual as he/she progresses in their work, providing feedback about progress and how effectively the individual is working. See “Principle 7: Effectively Assign and Assess Work.”
Development in the role follows naturally from effective task assignment and completion, as the manager reviews the work and the individual’s effectiveness in executing the work. The manager creates opportunities to coach the individual on how to be more effective. This may involve helping individual’s see better ways to solve problems, run meetings, collaborate with others, comply with rules and policies, or better use the company’s resources. See “Principle 9: Develop Your Team.”
Reward and recognize team members, as appropriate. The intent is to create conditions where all employees are in a position to see that the organization is a meritocracy – a place where people are paid fairly based on their performance effectiveness. See “Principle 9: Recognize and Reward Good Work.”
Finally, in addition to the execution of the day-to-day operational work, managers are accountable for continuous improvement of work processes and methods. They identify ways for work to be done more effectively and efficiently. They then implement the necessary changes for this to occur.
While continuous improvement forms part of the accountabilities of all employees, only managers are authorized to change the organization’s systems of work. When changes are made, it is the manager who creates the environment to enable the change to occur. See “Principle 10: Continuously Improve and Lead Change.”
So, before we go further, let’s tackle the argument of management vs. leadership. Leadership is defined as:
The process in which one person sets the direction for one or more other people and gets them to move together in that direction with full commitment.
If we accept that a manager is accountable for the output and behavior of their team, for building and leading an effective team so that each member is fully committed to and capable of moving in the direction set, and for bringing about change through continuous improvement of work processes in their team, we must accept that they are also leaders, no matter at what level in the organization. Leadership, therefore, is not a freestanding activity; it is a specific accountability of all people managers, it is part of the role and not separate from the role. Trying to separate leadership from management confuses the benefits of good managerial practice. All managers are leaders. Their only choice is to be a good one or a bad one. On the other hand, not all leaders are managers.
Authorities of a Manager
Having established what managers are accountable for, they must then have authorities in connection with those accountabilities. Authorities are those aspects of a role that enable the person to act legitimately in order to carry out the accountabilities required of a role. Authorities include such things as authority to assign tasks, get access to information and expend resources, including money, in the organization.
In order to do their work and fulfill their accountabilities, managers have three types of authorities:
Work Authorities
The first type of authority a manager has is the authority to do specified types of work, such as, the technical and programming work specified in the position description.
Work is authorized through the line of management. It cascades down the organization from the managing director, who authorizes the strategy and business plan, through each layer of management to the frontline manager. The frontline manager authorizes the work plan and assigns tasks to each team member. This cascading of authority and assigning tasks enables the organization to achieve its business objectives. Examples include the delivery of a service or product, the preparation of a forecast or business plan, or the authority to expend money.
Role Authorities (Managerial)
The second type of authority a manager has is the authority stemming from their role as a manager. It is the authority given to a person to make decisions in order the meet the accountabilities of the role. All employees are held accountable for their own work effort in producing something, whereas, employees in managerial roles are doubly accountable. They are not only held to account for their own personal effectiveness, they are also held to account for the output and behaviors of their direct reports.
In order to be held accountable for the work of their team, managers must have four minimum managerial authorities in relation to their direct reports. These authorities are the ability to: