There have been many debates about leadership versus management and organisations that hire a manager, not a leader, may find themselves unhappy with their new hire if they have neglected to assess leadership capability as part of their recruitment process.
One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is in hiring for job experience and not selecting a candidate based on those soft skills that a true leader has. Getting it wrong can result in an unhappy team, loss of productivity and a disjoined team that are not working towards the same goals.
Difference between leadership and management
Predominantly, management focuses on getting the task done through people, whereas leadership is about motivating and influencing people. But what does that mean in practice?
Control in management versus trust in leadership – two very different approaches towards people and not something someone can easily change. If they are inherently reactive as a manager, it will take time for them to transform into a proactive leader.
Before starting your recruitment campaign, ask yourself if you want a ruler or an influencer in your business and be clear on the type of person you are looking to recruit and how they will fit into your organisational culture.
The benefits of identifying candidates with a leadership mindset
Mindset drives what leaders do, and why they do it.
People are, by their very nature, complex beings and so give two people the same scenario to deal with and you will have two very different approaches with 2 completely different outcomes.
- Choosing a leader who has the mindset to compliment your organisation means that they will, amongst other things:
- Maximise the potential with their team and the wider organisation
- Influence organisational growth and increase productivity
- Develop future leaders
- Create and maintain positive relationships, collaborate, motivate and promote engagement across the organisation
Therefore, as part of your interview and assessment process, it is crucial for you to find out how a candidate will react to certain situations. This is why it is important to us as your preferred recruitment partner to deliver tailored recruiting solutions based on each client’s unique needs, with the aim to not just identify qualified candidates, but the rare right-fit in this evolving market.
5 tips for hiring the right leader
Attracting the right people to your organisation is a skill that a lot of organisations are struggling with currently.
Hiring a manager, rather than a leader, may mean you end up with someone who barks out orders, taping their fingers waiting for the job to get done. Even worse, they may set unreasonable expectations and create a toxic environment that has huge consequences for employee engagement, resulting in productivity lowering and employee turnover increasing.
When hiring a leader, assess whether the candidate can demonstrate they have experience in the following:
Have they developed a clear vision (strategy) for their team members?
At interview, ask them to talk you through a scenario when they have developed that vision for your business or ask them what things they would consider when developing a strategic plan.
How effective are they in communicating goals and helping others achieve them?
Perhaps you could ask how they have mentored an employee in order to help that employee achieve their goals or to tell you about a time when they have been able to develop the knowledge, skills or abilities of a team member.
How have they inspired others?
It’s about more than leading by example and so you could ask them to tell you about a time when they have led a team to solve a complex problem or ask them how they would inspire others to follow their vision, even if some of them did not see the value of it.
Are they emotionally intelligent?
This is a combination of social awareness, self-awareness and self-management as well as relationship management. Ask them to describe when they may have had difficulty building a relationship with someone or how they have dealt with someone who has been upset with one of the goals they may have set them.
Can they build relationships?
Ask how they handle having a difficult conversation and explore if they are demonstrating empathy, are helping an individual grow or tearing them down.
Finally, find out how passionate your candidate is about the job role and what motivated them to apply for the role. If you are looking for someone who is attracted to the salary, but nothing else, that is fine – If you are that type of organisation. Although consider if you are seeking someone with influence and drive, are they demonstrating that to you?
Write down a list of things that are important to your organisation, and then look to develop those into interview questions.
So, you’ve hired your next leader – now what?
Developing your leaders is not something that happens overnight.
Putting everyone on a training course will not work – you need a solid plan, and you need to ensure you are developing the right people.
For your new hire, set expectations out early enough and identify if they have any gaps in their experience, knowledge or leadership toolkit and consider if they need a coach or mentor.
Share long term objectives and your strategic plan and make sure they know where they fit into that and understand what their role is in disseminating that plan out to the wider teams.
Reinforce values and behaviours early and provide them with good, constructive feedback regularly – both informally as well as more formally.
Ensure you are providing the right tools and resources to them and make it clear where they need to go to that will provide them with the right support.
Final thoughts
Remember, people leave managers, not organisations. If you hire a manager, rather than a leader, it will cost you dearly. Not just in terms of cost to replace but also the loss of productivity, having to change the culture back to a positive one, increased sick days and in all likelihood a direct cost to your bottom line.
Therefore, if you want leaders, not managers, start to hire for attitude, not experience. Skills can usually be taught.