BY ART VAN BODEGRAVEN AND
KENNETH B. ACKERMAN
basictraining
When managers think they
are leaders
WE’VE WRITTEN OFTEN ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
managers and leaders, between bosses and visionaries. But those
most lacking in a higher order of attributes seem to be the last to
sense their absence. Nothing, it seems, makes a boss feel more powerful than the conceit that he or she is actually a leader.
The folks who organize pay-to-play “conferences,” “forums,” and
“summits” get this and play to audiences that tend to be overloaded
with pretenders to the crown. Advertising to bosses who aspire to
recognition as leaders is like hanging out a Free Catnip sign at a cat
convention.
Without revisiting the tit-for-tat comparisons
of managers and leaders, there are some telltale
signs that a cloud of self-delusion is settling in.
We’ve seen this recently, in a setting in which a
mob of bosses declared themselves to be leaders
and positioned their deepest thoughts about
supply chain management as the insights of
leaders. The net effect registered alarmingly high
on the barf-o-meter.
ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE
Reality is that supply chain management, done
right, can have a profound effect on overall corporate financial accomplishment. What we, in
the aggregate, do ultimately elevates such measures as return on
assets. We can help drive sales volume, profit margins, and market
position. And, by the way, we can manage costs for optimized
investment.
But while leaders get the picture, bosses and managers fall into the
trap of thinking that supply chain management’s job is to slash
inventories, squeeze suppliers on price, and reduce transport expenditures. In short, their supply chains are supposed to drive cost performance—nothing more, nothing less.
WHICH FURTHER INDICATES THAT ...
The manager typically has a cost mentality. The only thing that matters is cost reduction, and what’s important about customer service
is the transient cost of a single transaction, not the down-the-road
and sustainable consequence of loyalty and increased sales.
The leader has a value mentality and sees dollars as investments
with recurring payback, not as margin erosion.
The leader wants suppliers and service providers
to be profitable, to be able to invest in continuous
improvement, and to share in win-win solutions
that benefit all partners in the end-to-end supply
chain.
AIDED AND ABETTED BY
THE STREET
Admittedly, pressures for
immediate financial performance can drive bosses and
managers to a short-term perspective in supply chain management decisions. But,
frankly, they also tend to be
comfortable with the immediate gratification of
monthly and quarterly earnings.
Leaders, by contrast, tend to naturally look
toward the long term in assessing what investments make sense, when positive outcomes should
be expected, and how sustainable improvements
ought to be.
THE PEOPLE PART OF THE EQUATION
The bosses, flinty-eyed managers, and pretenders
to leadership sometimes talk the talk about doing
right by people. But more often than not, there’s
not room enough under the bus in which to throw
the human resources that elevate enterprise performance.
