Managers Should Manage, Not Administer

Are managers abdicating their management responsibilities? Do they clearly understand what managing is?

For example, do managers understand the difference between managing and administering? Have initiatives such as team building, employee participation and empowerment inadvertently created confusion as to what a manager’s job entails?

Today, too many managers believe their role is simply to administer.

But administering is not the same as managing. Administering is implementing a predefined plan, policies or rules and tends to be relatively safe and comfortable. It does not require the risk-taking or the bold declaration of direction that managing entails.

Other managers believe their role is to build consensus rather than leading. These managers expect the job of leadership to be performed by the group and don’t understand that managers must be able to differentiate between the issues in which they should and should not take the lead.

Still other managers use the concepts of teamwork, empowerment and consensus building as a way to avoid making sometimes hard but correct decisions. Managers are not paid to make the easy decisions and maintain the status quo. Managers are paid to improve their organizations.

Good managers know how to do this. And they know how to properly delegate responsibility and authority on the issues in which they choose not to lead. Managing requires leading. Administering does not.

Changing, leading and making tough decisions are inextricably linked. We live, work and compete in a world of continuous change. Change requires a manager to lead. And leading involves making tough decisions. Managers today must be prepared to lead. And managers today must be ready to make the difficult decisions.

One test of leadership is a manager’s willingness to make the correct decision, even when the decision is unpopular or might create personal career risk. Good managers are willing to take risks to help their employees grow and to achieve organizational goals. And at times, managers must even be bold. They need to be prepared to make the hard, the risky, the bold decision. This is leadership. This is managing.

In addition, managing does not mean everyone will be happy or agree with you. In fact, management is sometimes scary and, unfortunately, lonely. Managing is not meant to be safe and comfortable. Managing is meant to achieve organizational purpose, goals and potential. Managing requires courage.

As a leader, a manager develops a clear vision, has the courage to declare it and communicates with passion how the vision translates into day-to-day work. A vision is an integral part of leadership because it helps define as well as reinforce our purpose. It inspires commitment. Perspectives and reactions are solicited, but an effective vision is more often created by a person, not a committee.

Managing requires vision.

Managers should not only model the values important to a company’s culture, but good managers also protect these values by a willingness to deal with inappropriate behavior. Confronting such behavior in a forthright and respectful manner is difficult. Yet it is a vital responsibility of management if a business is to achieve its purpose and sustain its culture.

Managers must care about their employees as people and treat them with respect. But this does not mean a manager’s job is to make decisions or take courses of action just to keep employees happy. Employees suffer when an organization cannot adequately compete. The downsizing, re-engineering and “rightsizing” of the 1980s and ‘90s remind us of the importance of making the correct, not the easy, people decisions.

Sometimes a painful short-term decision is necessary for longer-term organizational health and employee welfare. And when these decisions are made, it is vital that a manager communicate and implement them in a respectful and honest way. Managing requires heart.

Political expediency and leadership do not go hand in hand. Being a manager is not riskless. A manager should not always be looking for the easy, safe path. And managers need to be prepared to professionally voice their disagreement with bosses or politically important people. The politically expedient course might be comfortable in the short run, but it is inevitably costly in the long run, both personally and organizationally.

Managing is meaningful work. Managing is fun. But managing can also be difficult. Managing requires making the tough, correct decision despite personal costs. Managing means declaring your position on a controversial, if not political, topic. Managing requires leadership.

Strengthen your vision. Lead and have courage. Be bold but retain your heart.

Accept the challenge. Choose to manage.

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Gary Izumo is a professor in the Moorpark College business department and has managed his own consulting practice. He is a former McKinsey & Co. consultant and practice leader for the Strategic Management Consulting Practice of Price Waterhouse.