Leadership or Management?

It has been said, "You manage things....you lead people." I couldn't agree more.

There are a lot of "Managers" out there. Some manage processes, others manage groups of people. Being a manager means being "in charge", or perhaps, "responsible" for something, right? (some thing)? No doubt that there are many, many things that require someone to be responsible for: systems, budgets, workflow, logistics, information, etc. But what about the people? Do you manage people? I say no.

Sure, you can manage some situations that involve people, such as interactions/communications, environments, duties, or maybe even some aspects of behavior. Yet, no matter how complex of a machine or a system you may manage, it will never be as complicated or intricately-designed (or flawed) as a human being. For instance, a thing does not have thoughts, feelings, desires, hopes, dreams, emotions, or most importantly, a soul. You simply cannot manage these aspects. For that reason, you must have a completely different set of knowledge, skills, and talent: leadership.

A computer is programed to perform a certain set of tasks, given specific parameters, with identified variables and methods of input and output. And no matter how fascinating the process is, or how extraordinary the outcome may be, it will never be motivated to do more. And, to be honest, you really can't blame a computer for the outcome you get...because your results are precisely the end product of your specific instructions: you get out of it what you put into it. Yet, you will see managers repeatedly blame the output on others...an unfortunate hallmark of ineffective leadership. I believe it is a complete misnomer to identify a person in charge of other human beings as a "manager". You simply do not, and cannot, manage people.

It is by no fault of their own that some of the greatest leaders may have the title of "manager"...that is just our way of identifying a job duty or hierarchy of responsibility and influence within an organization. Anyone can put on a badge with "manager" in the title and be great at budgets and fiscal planning. But this person is not necessarily a leader simply due to the same qualifying identity. Again, "you manage things....you lead people." Emotion, personality, morals, and ethics are perhaps some of the biggest reasons you cannot manage people. People have goals, they have dreams, they have needs. They can be motivated. They can be made to feel worthless. They can trust and they can distrust. All of these factors require something much more effective than learning how to manage. You must understand how to lead.

I know that I will be much more likely to enjoy my job, work harder, and be more effective when I am motivated to do so. And to me, this occurs with positive reinforcement and opportunity to express ideas, thoughts, and concerns. Conditioning behavior within a workplace though negative reinforcement may provide short-term results, but it will pollute the very air it attempts to improve. If the main interaction you have with people is at the "giving-end" of a corrective action, then you will fail as a leader, even though you may manage a situation. You don't have to be friends, but you do not have to be the enemy. It doesn't have to be "us" against "them". Effective leaders know that to understand human behavior, you must be human. Humans are fallible. We make mistakes. It's a fact, and it cannot be ignored or avoided. We must learn form the mistakes, try to understand why we do what we do, and solidify our foundation upon that gained knowledge. We are human. It's time we treat one another accordingly.

Although I have talked about "people in charge" in terms of "superiors and subordinates", I think this would definitely apply to bedside nursing practice. Patients are not our "subordinates", but we do assume a great deal of authority and power over them whether we like it or not. We manage our care plans, our patients' information, and most of all, our time. But we will never manage our patients. We can manage symptoms, perhaps, by providing appropriate interventions, yet we cannot do the same with our patients' thoughts and fears. We must apply aspects of leadership to our everyday practice, understanding what drives people to do the things they do...what motivates them...and how we can use that knowledge to help them make more positive changes within their lives. Additionally, when we are working together as a team, we must understand that our coworkers will typically respond much more favorably if we treat them as humans and not things. A little communication goes a long way.

And, of course, there is a great lesson we can learn from the study of complexity science- actually there are a lot of lessons from it, but that's a different conversation. It is well known and observed that a single force, seemingly isolated and insignificant, can have a greater impact upon an entire system (small, large, near, or far) than we can ever predict. I am certain most of us can recall one or two individuals in our life thus far who have positively impacted us in ways we could have never known or understood. We all carry those people and those behaviors with us...we will never forget the way that person made us think or made us feel. It is because this person was a leader, and a leader leads people.

I am a nurse; I am a leader.

Thank you.

Steve