Stop Choosing Between Managing and Leading Great Managers Do Both

Key Takeaways

 

• Great managers are both managers and leaders — they build productivity and inspire passion and focus.
• Don’t choose between managing and leading — the most effective leaders wear both hats with pride.
• Management ensures competence, rhythm, accountability, performance tracking, and predictable results.
• Leadership generates team passion, strategic focus, ownership, and forward-thinking decision-making.
• Installing consistent management rhythms (like weekly and daily check-ins) helps teams become proactive and independent — reducing reliance on the owner.
• Great businesses blend order with belief — managers create structure; leaders create momentum.

 

Have you ever got yourself caught up in the debate: Am I am Manager or a Leader?

 

Let me simplify the discussion.  Managers Build Competence and Productivity. Leaders Build Passion and Focus.  Great Managers should wear BOTH hats with pride.

 

Let’s take a look at the story from a Johannesburg business owner who called me in recently with his frustration.

 

His company had grown quickly. Revenue was strong. The team had doubled. On paper, it all looked great.

 

But inside the business; deadlines were slipping, staff were waiting for instructions, customers were starting to feel the cracks, and every decision still landed on his desk.

 

His managers were apparently working hard. They were committed. They were busy all day, some even worked late hours. But the business still relied on him to operate.

 

His words summed it up:

 

“I don’t need more effort. I need managers who can lead.”

 

This is one of the most common barriers to growth in South African businesses today. Managers think they don’t lead and Leaders think they shouldn’t manage. Managers feel they are either a Manager or a Leader, it’s not true, they are both.

 

The Management role is to develop skilled people, and the leadership role is to generate passion, focus, and commitment. Great modern-day managers do both,

 

Management and Leadership.  Otherwise, teams are efficient but disengaged… or motivated but chaotic.

 

Let’s take a look at the 5 main concerns executive have about their managers and how to address these:

 

1. Accountability & Ownership: Managers must create responsibility AND ownership. Owners often see excuses, escalated problems, and dependency.
2. Communication & Information Flow: Poor communication causes confusion, delays, and costly mistakes.
3. Developing People: Managers need to grow capability, not just supervise tasks.
4. Driving Performance & Results: Activity is not productivity. KPIs and performance rhythms matter.
5. Adaptability & Strategic Thinking: Managers should improve existing systems with forward thinking.

 

The solution doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by a Management Rhythm.

 

Without rhythm, managers react. With rhythm, managers can be proactive.

 

 

The Rhythm That Builds Leadership Momentum

 

Every week, in every business there must be the regular rhythm of the weekly LION, both individual and by team LION. (Last Week • Issues • Opportunities • Next Week).

 

Here how it works:

 

Every week, everyone assesses their contribution to the business using the LION format:

 

L – Last Week’s Performance: What did the numbers say?

I – Issues: What challenges occurred?

O – Opportunities: What improvements or wins can we leverage?

N – Next Week: What are the priorities and commitments?

 

This creates performance awareness, proactive problem solving, continuous improvement, and accountability.

 

The Weekly Team Meeting. A meeting set at standard time at the beginning of each week to communicate, prioritise and focus on priorities, performance indicators, obstacles and wins & lessons

 

The impact the weekly meeting is to ensure alignment, clarity and ownership.

 

The Daily List (Daily Focus & Execution): Each team member identifies their top priorities for the day. This improves focus, reduces busywork, and drives daily progress. It is key to ensure that every day everyone works on the issues which set them up to achieve their 90-day plan.

 

Weekly 1:2:1 Meetings.  At the weekly 1:2:1 meeting the focus is to report on progress remove obstacles thereby ensuring weekly performance is achieved versus the goals.  Give feedback on performance. Support & develop your team, ensuring every team member has a personal development plan. And ensure the culture of accountability is entrench ensuring business growth.

 

This builds trust, grows capability, and prevents small issues becoming big problems.

 

 

 

Why Rhythm Creates Results

 

When these practices are installed;

• accountability improves,
• communication becomes proactive,
• performance becomes measurable,
• people grow faster,
• problems are solved earlier
• managers lead instead of firefighting
• Most importantly, the business stops depending on the owner for momentum.

 

Here’s a quick checklist for you to diagnose where your team are;

 

Accountability:

 

• Do managers bring solutions?
• Are results owned?

 

Communication:

 

• Are issues surfaced early?
• Are priorities clear?

 

People Development:

 

• Are team members growing?
• Is dependency decreasing?

 

Performance:

 

• Are KPIs tracked weekly?
• Are performance conversations happening?

 

Strategic Thinking:

 

• Do managers suggest improvements?
• Are they proactive?

 

If you answered “no” to more than three, your business may be in need of alignment of manager role – Management and Leadership!

 

 

Final Thought

 

Great managers create order. Great leaders create belief. Great businesses install rhythm.

 

Success is not built on intensity… it is built on consistency.

 

By: Craig Lourens, ActionCOACH Business Coach