Rising Tides and Sinking Ships

 

It’s been hard to avoid stories of companies failing over the past year, but when a company finally goes under, sifting out the real reason isn’t always that tough.

Companies don’t fail.  People fail.

When a company throws in the towel, it’s often because leaders have failed to lead and managers have failed to manage.  The problem is that often leaders are not great managers, and often managers are not leaders.

As the owner of a contracting company, chances are you need to be both, so how do you excel as a leader and manager?

 

Leaders:  Creating and Communicating the Vision

If your business is a ship, then the leader’s job is to point the ship in the right direction.  You need to create the vision and paint it in a way that inspires everyone to get on board with one common purpose.

Great leaders inspire others to want to achieve the desired goal and then provide the means by which it can be done.

Pointing the ship in the right direction will only get you there if everyone else on board believes it is the right direction.  When they believe that, they’ll go to work on making sure they get there.  Or as General Eisenhower one said, “Leadership is getting people to do what you want them to do, in the manner you want it done, and getting them to believe that that’s what they want to do.”

If your vision is to add a second location to your company, it’s the leader’s job to paint that picture and inspire everyone else to want to achieve it too.

 

Managers:  Executing the Details for Achieving the Vision

Management is the process of coordinating and overseeing all of the team’s tasks that go into achieving the desired goal.

For example, if the vision is to add that second location, where will the location be?  Who will staff it, and what advertising should be placed to make the phone ring?  Those are some of the tasks that are involved in turning the vision into reality, and it’s the manager’s responsibility to see them through.

A good manager will look for ways to achieve the vision faster, more efficiently, and more profitably.

 

The Main Difference?

Great companies need great leaders, and great companies need great managers.  And more often than not, both responsibilities fall on the same person.  After all, management is a component of leadership, and leadership is a component of management.  The two are separate, but they do overlap.

To excel at both, you must realize that while management can be learned, leadership must be earned.  Getting your team to believe in your vision take earning their trust, and that can take time.  To do it, you can build your credentials so others see your track record, and you can persuade others to follow your plan.

When companies fail, the ship starts sinking and crew members jump overboard, and it’s often because the leader didn’t create an exciting vision or the manager didn’t manage the tasks necessary for a successful voyage.

To operate a successful contracting company this year and next, make sure you have both strong leadership and management in place, and if you’re weak in one of the other, now is the time to make a change.  If you’re a great leader, but not a great manager, it’s time to build a management team around you that can successfully execute your vision.  And if you are a great manager, but not a great leader, now is the time to make a commitment to increase your leadership skills.

If a lack of leadership and management is why companies fail, your prescription for success is to make sure your company is strong in both of those areas.  One of the ways to that is to attend leadership building events like Success Day with other successful contractors.  You can avoid becoming a sinking ship by improving your leadership skills and rising with the tide.

For more information on great leadership building opportunities, contact Plumbers’ Success International® at 1-866-412-8093.