Diane

"Leadership is service, not position." 

 Tim Fargo

There are very few managers in the workplace whose sole responsibility is to manage others.  Most managers have tasks that need to be completed and they need to lead a group of people to best complete their tasks. So, how can you do a great job at both?  For those of you that are highly task oriented (and you know who you are) you may need to look at managing others as one of your tasks. For those of you that were promoted because you were good at getting tasks done, you may be thinking that your tasks are more important than managing your staff.  Or, you may leave your staff alone because you think it is better to stay out of their way than to be seen as a micromanager.  Both of these thoughts will end up hurting rather than helping your career.

In a nutshell you need to get good at doing both; completing your tasks and developing those that report to you.  I know this is not anything new for you but I want to lay out a roadmap on how you can excel at both:

• The first thing to do is get tremendous clarity around your five to six key responsibility areas or KRAs.  These are the activities or tasks that you must accomplish in order to excel at your position.  Most of us know these but it doesn't hurt to take a draft to your boss and make sure you understand if these are the most important. You may even want to weigh each of these in importance.  One of the KRAs should be to manage your staff effectively.

• The second thing you must do after understanding your KRAs is to identify the KRAs of the people that report to you.  Make them simple and straightforward and share them with each of your direct reports.

• The third thing you must do is identify the KRAs that you struggle with the most in terms of gaining competence and commitment and ask for guidance from your boss.  Your boss may direct you to someone else but you must be persistent in getting the help you need to excel in each KRA.

• The fourth thing you must do is ask each of your reports what type of direction and support they need in each KRA to excel.  Listen, take notes and make sure you take action.  Make these KRAs a part of your evaluation process so they know it is important that they are competent and committed to each of their KRAs.

• The fifth thing to do is watch how you begin to gain confidence in your tasks and your direct reports do as well. 

While I know this may seem like a simplification of a complex process, but understanding your and your staff's key responsibility areas will be half the work to allowing you to balance the need to complete your work and develop those that report to you.

Question for You:

Do you find it difficult to manage others and get your own work done?  Do you feel like you are not able to do both effectively?

Action for You:

Begin gaining clarity on those tasks that are most important to your success.  Ask for more direction or support from your boss in those tasks that you lack competence and commitment. Identify the key responsibility areas for each of your direct reports and help them to gain competence and commitment in each of their areas. Ask them how much direction and support they need to succeed and know that you do not need to know how to do their tasks, but rather, how to find the resources for them to excel in their tasks. Once you have taken these two large steps, you will find greater satisfaction in your job and your direct reports will identify you as an effective leader.