RightToLead.com

Should you be making managers into leaders? That’s a trickier question than you might think. At face value, it seems like an obviously good idea. Things get more complicated when you look a little closer.

That’s because there is an inherent risk in trying to facilitate the transition. If you have good managers, it’s obviously tempting to try to tap their potential leadership skills. What happens if doing so starts to detract from their managerial skills and emphasis, though?

Are you better off with a distracted manager who’s trying to develop leadership skills or would you be in a superior position with a focused manager who’s not all that concerned with becoming a proactive force for leadership?

The answer to that question is going to depend on the specific circumstances of your organization, of course. It’s also going to depend on your perspective regarding the value of leadership and your personal obligation to allow people to experience their full potential.

If you believe you have a personal responsibility to help others become the “best they can be,” it makes sense to trying making managers into leaders. You can allow people to recognize hidden talents and achieve more.

However, doing that requires some smart planning. You need to prepare yourself for the changes in managerial talents and attention that may accompany the increased emphasis on leadership. You need to have the systems in place to deal with that so that your operational capacity isn’t damaged in the process of encouraging personal growth.

It’s also important to consider whether developing those leadership skills in managers is really going to contribute to the strength of your organization in the bigger picture. While the idea of team built of awesome leader-managers may seem like an all-star lineup capable of anything, we also know that leaders need followers and managers need subordinates for things to function. There is a balance issue at play.

If you’re addressing the right managers in the right way and within the right overall context, full speed ahead! If you’re gambling with operation stability or creating an overall imbalance within your staff, that’s another matter altogether. Making managers into leaders sounds attractive and it can be wonderful. But it’s not quite as easy and free of risk as we might like to think.

So, should you be making managers into leaders? Overall, it’s probably a sensible decision. However, those efforts should be accompanied by the recognition that there are limits to the endeavor and that you can’t let it trade off with the successful nuts and bolts functioning of your organization.