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Do you:  Manage by Leading or Lead by Managing? A Case for Critical Thinking

Prepared by Dr. David C. Miles
Chairman, The Miles LeHane Companies

The question, do you Manage by Leading or Lead by Managing, is not to be meant as a rhetorical question but one for you to consider analyzing how you approach your role in your organization.  Of course there are other combinations of this question: 1- Do you: 1- Lead by Leading (“C” level), 2- Manage by Managing (most managers),  3-Manage by Doing the work (Technical Professionals),  4- Or Doing the work (Supervisors or workers).  Over the years we have blurred the lines in titles and expectations to these commonly accepted 6 categories.  For the focus of this perspective I would like to stay with the first two combinations in the title of this article: Do You Manage by Leading or Lead by Managing.  To clarify any definitional perspective, by far the most desirable for an organization when focusing on the senior executive is to have an individual who Leads by Leading.  We tend to understand this the best after some period of time passes and we can make a less emotive evaluation of the individuals performance.  For example many would say people like Henry Ford, Jack Welch, Lee Iacoca are examples of a Leader who Lead the organization.

It is important to clarify a point of definition between the words Leader and Manager, for the focus of this article.  There are many, many different definitions, but I would like to stay simplistic.  Managing is about the here and now and immediate short term issues.  It is about hands on directing and controlling the process thru tactical approaches.  Leading is a long term perspective by setting strategy over multiple horizons.  Others then create and implement tactics and operating plans and tasks.  While this descriptor is simplistic, there many times can be a fine line between Managing and Leading, but that is not the focus of the initial title question.

The question then becomes how do you move from Leading by Managing (too much hands on)  to the next higher level of Managing by Leading (more strategic and less tactical/task)?  Most of us move into a higher level position by working hard and producing results and then are rewarded with a promotion.  We tend then to do more of what we did in the past, since that is what we were rewarded for! Yet we Lead by still Managing.  This really is NOT Leadership.

Managing by Leading recognizes that our positions are typically not all allocated to pure Leadership issues. we must continue to do some Managerial work.  But, our new role does require us to make decisions when “No” textbook answer is appropriate or exists.  The skill that demonstrates Managing by Leading is called “Critical Thinking”.  This skill has been identified by a number of recent studies.  In fact it has been identified as one of the skills most missing in those new graduates entering the work force. In the past many growth managers have subscribed to the “Expert Theory” of Leadership. In other words if there is a problem there exists a textbook correct answer to every question.  Therefore, we falsely assumed there is a correct proven answer for every situation that one would encounter. All we needed was to find that person with the answer to solve the problems.

The truth is that we now realize that this is not the case.  With the new complexities of a global society and world of business, we will continually face issues and situations that there simply is no correct answer or demonstrated best decision to make.  We all will be forced to use Critical Thinking to make the best possible choices when these situations arise. 

Examples of recent events are easy to understand that Critical Thinking has or has not been implemented.  Hurricane Katrina, 9/11/01 and the many stories that describe how they were handled, some extremely well and many poorly handled.  From these lessons we can learn the principles of effective Critical Thinking.  The good news is this skill can be learned and integrated into your organization.  It is not something that can happen overnight, but once integrated into the culture and supported on a daily basis, you can effectively Manage by Leading and hopefully one day move higher where you will have the opportunity to Lead by Leading.

The next article will be an overview of what is entailed in a Critical Thinking organization. 

For further reading and understanding on this subject of Critical Thinking see:
Executive Intelligence By Justin Menkes

This is the first of what is planned as a series for Thought Leaders.  As other articles are completed and distributed each will posted on our website (www.mileslehane.com/articles.htm). This is the 1st paper in this series.