Are You Leading Like A Person or Like A Position?

Like me, you’ve probably had bosses you’ve loved and bosses you’ve hated.

Well, maybe “hate” is too strong a word.

 Let’s say it this way ~ you’ve had bosses you’ve loved or bosses you’ve left.

 Early in my career, my supervisor, Marcia, was so supportive. She frequently complimented me on things she thought I was doing well. She respectfully offered feedback when she knew I needed more specific direction on how to succeed. She was friendly in the hallway, on time for our meetings, and kept an open door policy as much as possible. She was available but not a micro manager.

 Later in my career, my supervisor, who we will call “Kathryn” was not so supportive. She rarely offered praise but was very quick to point out any little thing that wasn’t done to her liking. She patted herself on the back when our department hit a milestone, but never took responsibility when we struggled with a project or goal. I always felt like she was lurking around to catch any one of us doing who knows what? I found it hard to relax and just flow in my work with that kind of stalking behavior from her. She also appeared to play favorites and did some passive aggressive things to divide our team. It was not pretty. She seemed to enjoy her power but did not hold herself accountable to things she promised she would do.

Marcia led like a person. Kathryn led like a position.

 Now, not all leaders are so heavily in one category or the other.Nor are all leaders intentionally leading like a position and not realizing this is a problem.

 Many leaders are promoted to the role without given any training or support. They were likely very good at their jobs, so they seemed to be the best candidate to manage people doing those same jobs. 

 But without proper training or support, leading like a person versus a position may not be intuitive. 

 This is important because the research indicates people do not leave companies. They leave ineffective leaders. 

To dive more deeply into what these leadership approaches look like, the consequences and benefits, and the most important skills needed to succeed, I recommend Mark Carpenter’s book, “Lead Like A Person, Not Like A Position,” and you can listen to my podcast interview with him here: