Five Levels of Management
Someone said to me today; “It’s not a coaching situation. What’s needed is management.” That really resonated with me.
In the past I’ve written about the differences between Managing and Leading. Elsewhere I’ve written about the differences between training [filling an empty vessel], mentoring [being an evolutionary elder pointing people in the right direction] and coaching [polishing how existing skills are used].
So when I heard the quote above I realized all five concepts are linked in a ‘managing’ hierarchy. First you’ve got to train people in the basic hard and soft skills they need. Then you mentor them to show them the way to do their work efficiently. Then you coach them to help them use all their skills well. Sometimes you have to manage them to ensure they are doing the right things. [Often managing is harder than coaching and mentoring because a manager risks popularity when telling people what to do.] And sometimes you lead people to pull them in the direction of your vision [occasionally without their endorsement].
