Founders Voice: What happens when great leaders turn out to be poor managers?

Everyone talks about great leaders, and we all complain about terrible managers. It’s an all too familiar sentiment: Managers are often the primary reason people leave their jobs. We have all heard it and seen it by now. Managerial positions experience the highest turnover, and staff under poor managers are more likely to leave.

As a society, we’ve been ingrained with the idea that great leaders inspire their teams. Icons like Simon Sinek and Tony Robbins preach this message. In every motivational training session I’ve attended, the mantra is clear: hire for character and train for skill. We leave these sessions feeling pumped, ready to follow this advice. We start hiring based on personality, or we promote the person everyone loves because it seems that they can lead a team effectively. But, what happens when these charismatic leaders can’t deliver or teach their team the essential skills they need?

How far can charisma get you?

Let’s face it – you know what you should be teaching them, or hoped they had already acquired these skills, maybe even considering those skills as common sense. However, common sense isn’t as common as it used to be, because we just don’t do things the same way we always used to do them. New talent should be driving innovation at your organization which means common sense the way you know it, doesn’t transfer to newer generations because times have changed. 

So, when that charismatic leader struggles to manage schedules, control labor costs, handle inventory, and fails to hire and train their team effectively, frustration and disappointment set in. This raises a critical question: What happens when great leaders turn out to be poor managers?”

It’s a paradox worth exploring. While leadership and management often go hand in hand, they are not interchangeable concepts. Leadership involves setting a vision, inspiring others, and fostering innovation. Management, on the other hand, deals with the practical aspects of running a team, such as organizing tasks, ensuring productivity, and meeting deadlines. Many leaders excel in one area but struggle in the other, and charisma alone doesn’t guarantee effective management. Charisma can mask the cracks in a leader’s ability to manage daily operations, and sometimes, it can even hinder it. This situation begs the question: Is charisma enough?

Common Pitfalls often arise when a charismatic leader transitions into a managerial role. These challenges include a delegation dilemma, where charismatic leaders may struggle with effective task delegation, often opting to be “hands-on,” which can lead to burnout and micromanagement. Another issue is the lack of structure, where visionaries prioritize creative thinking over structured processes, potentially resulting in an absence of organizational order and the potential for chaos. Conflict management is also a key concern, as charismatic leaders, while adept at inspiring passion, may avoid addressing conflicts within their teams, fearing potential disruption to the friendships they’ve cultivated.

So, what’s the solution?

We’ve encountered this scenario numerous times and heard the same complaints from colleagues – the shortage of skilled managers, the prevalence of inexperienced staff, high turnover, and a scarcity of qualified applicants. Organizations often grasp at leadership training as a solution without addressing the root problem. If a manager doesn’t know how to create an effective schedule, manage inventory for their team’s needs, or complete crucial documentation for safety and staff management, it doesn’t matter how likable they are. They are simply not going to cut it without training and support.

You’re likely grappling with being understaffed and overworked, and this is precisely why you opted to hire or promote that charismatic leader in the first place. You know precisely what you need to train them in, fully confident in your ability to develop them as required. However, the daily grind often gets in the way, and the knowledge you wish to impart somehow eludes you due to time constraints. You might find yourself well into your operation or busy season before realizing that you’ve done yourself, your new manager, and your team a disservice. It creates a situation where you need to jump in to rectify a scheduling issue, only to encounter the same problem the following week, or to place an order for supplies, only to discover you’re running out in two weeks because proper inventory management wasn’t executed.

I’ve made this mistake myself, hiring based on personality while aware that my candidate was inexperienced, only to realize the full extent of their inexperience when it was already too late and lacking the expected time or resources to dedicate to their proper training. Don’t make the same mistake. If you have a great team that needs structure and training, let us help.

There’s Not a One-Size-Fits-All SOlution

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question: “What happens when great leaders turn out to be poor managers?” While charismatic leaders may not naturally excel in management, they can evolve into effective managers with the right support and resources, thus bridging the gap between vision and execution. Organizations should recognize the distinction between leadership and management and offer the essential support and training for leaders transitioning into managerial roles. Through management coaching and focused training on specific managerial skills to enhance operations, managers can excel in their roles and lead their teams to success. This transformation stands as the key to unlocking their full potential and achieving lasting success, both for themselves and the organizations they serve. 

We founded High Road Management Training to serve as the vital resource that bridges the gap in training and support for middle management. Our unwavering commitment is to be your dedicated resource and support system. To guarantee that both you and your managers are on the path to success, we encourage you to explore our extensive range of management training courses and personalized coaching options.