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Lanagers
I refuse to use the word manager or leader, and I’ve created this very unattractive word, lanager, which, of course, is a blend of those two words because, it’s only academics who debate what leaders do versus what what managers do. And if you want to find a bunch of employees who are losing their mind, they’ve got one type of person running their team, the person who’s only visionary and up in the clouds or the person who’s only down in the trenches. This is the beauty of a very good leader or manager or lanager. They know when to flex between them. That’s how you mature as a lanager, that you are beginning to intuit, “Okay. My team needs me dreaming now. I need to remind them what the work is that we’re doing and its meaning and its purpose,” or “We’re in execution mode, and we really have to get stuff done. We’ll dream later. Right now, we’ve got to hit that deadline for our client.”
Execution is a funny thing because you can’t execute or you can’t ask people to do what you’re asking them to if you don’t explain to them why you’re asking them to do it. Or, you know, you can, but it doesn’t work as well. One of my favorite lines, and I use it over and over again when I’m teaching is, “You have to tell the drummer what the words of the song are about.” Okay? You can’t just give the drummer the music and tell him to hit it. He’s not going to be half as good or she’s not going to be half as good as if they know what the song is about so they can put their whole selves into it. This is the why. Now here’s the how. Now we’re going to execute. And the job of the manager and the leader at the same time is to be going back and forth between the why and the how and the why and the how. And it doesn’t make any difference if you’re managing three people or three hundred thousand people. The very best people at the top of teams or organizations are doing a little bit of managing and a little bit of leading, and it really depends on the context. And thus, the term lanager, which I know is not very attractive, but it does the job.
The Big Win
For anybody who’s running a team, the big win, and it’s hard, is to be beloved by your team at the same time that you’re beloved by your own bosses. It is easy just to be loved by your bosses because you just sort of kick down and get things done and you deliver on the, you know, you deliver whatever you’re supposed to deliver. And it’s pretty easy to be loved by your team. You just sort of meet their needs and you sympathize with them, you empathize with them, you identify with them. And either one of those separate is quite easy to do. But to be very successful in running a team, you have to find the way to do both things at the same time. And so part of what makes you very good as a person running a team in the lanager role is to be the simultaneous translator between your team and the people up there, that you, go back and forth explaining your team to the people above, and you explain the people above to your team. And that takes diplomacy. It takes courage because sometimes you’re going to really be agreeing with your team, and you have to go and stand up for them with the big bosses. And other times, the big bosses have got a better picture of what’s going on in the competitive realm than you do, and they’ve got information about, the sort of competitor that’s coming for you. And, they’re trying to, for instance, prevent layoffs. And, so, they’re doing some things that feel very extreme and onerous. And, you’ve got to come down, and you’ve got to have the courage to talk to your team saying, “We have to do some hard things.” Because a lot of times, you’re not allowed to or you don’t have the privilege to explain to them the competitive data that they know.
It’s more than being a messenger because when you’re a messenger, you sort of drop the bomb. You know, you say, “This is what they’re saying up there.” And you just sort of keep your poker face about it, or you go up to the top and you say, “Everybody really wants to work from home two days, you know, blah, blah, blah.” And then you just sort of stand there and you act like Switzerland. You’re neutral. The really good lanager, they are explaining both groups to each other, and they’re taking a stand. The worst thing in the world is a fingerprintless lanager. Leave no sign of what you really believe. Everybody comes to resent that. You sort of agree with the last person in the room. “Oh, yeah. Yeah. I agree with you.” And then then you make them feel good in the moment, then you go do something somewhere else. You’ve got to have conviction. And it may shorten your career in some places, but at least you stood on your principle, and your reputation for integrity will follow you.