This article first appeared in the January, 2004 edition of the Jacksonville Business Journal
Senior leaders are the small group of people who are supposed to direct and lead their organization. The rest of the organization and the outside world expect that these senior managers are setting the future direction for the whole business and guiding the organization forward.
The role of senior leaders is fundamentally different from that of middle managers and supervisors. Supervisors are responsible for the day-to-day activities of the business. Middle managers create good functional organizations with the right mix of people, tools, work methods and systems.
The senior level is responsible for setting the vision and direction of the company and establishing the core strategies to achieve that vision. Senior leaders create the framework for the cross-functional core work processes for a seamless, integrated organization. They work on major opportunities such as mergers, acquisitions, alliances and partner relationships. They guide major customer projects or initiatives and large scale projects. Senior leaders are also responsible for leading their own functional areas.
The Dilemma
The dilemma that most senior level managers face is driven by their inability (or unwillingness) to personally make the transition from middle to senior level management. They have developed such expertise in running their functional areas that they often want to continue to retain that responsibility. They remain heavily involved (even bound up) in day-to-day management issues, at the expense of their senior level responsibilities. Some even claim that they cannot spend the time working on senior level responsibilities because of the demands of their functional areas.
The consequence of this is that their functional areas run very well because of their many years of experience and high levels of competence. Unfortunately, the very skills that created their success as middle managers can cause their failure at the senior level. They become living proof of the axiom that "our weaknesses are often our strengths carried to excess..."
Because the senior leaders remain in their comfortable roles, their own middle managers do not develop the maturity and skills to run the organization independently, thus perpetuating a dependent organization. Carried too far, this can actually contribute to the creation of a "stovepiped" company that may have substantial cross-functional conflict.
While the roles and responsibilities of Presidents and senior teams will vary with different industries and sizes of organizations, there are some basic responsibilities for this level of work. Some of these responsibilities are performed by all the senior managers together as a team. Others are implemented individually for their respective organizations.
The Team Role of Senior Managers
As a team, the senior managers work together to develop the vision and strategic plan for the company. This strategic plan then rolls down into the annual business plan, operational plan and annual budget.
Once the vision is established, the senior management team works collectively to set the core strategies and initiatives to achieve the strategic and business plan. These strategies set business priorities, and guide budget allocations. Some of these strategies may be so comprehensive that the senior team works together to guide their implementation.
The senior team has a collective responsibility to lead major acquisition, merger, divestiture, alliance, partner initiatives. This cannot be delegated to any one area.
Finally, the senior team works together to build the core internal systems that define business operations. These systems include the core cross-functional work processes, the company-wide measurement and control system - often referred to as the "dashboard" - and the human performance and talent management system.
The Individual Role of Senior Managers
In addition to their roles as members of the senior team, every senior manager also has responsibility for a specific department or functional area. As a functional leader, senior managers develop the business and operational plans for their own functional area, in alignment with the company's strategic and business plan. This plan includes the required infrastructure to support their work - their own organizational structure, management team, work processes, systems and tools, goals and performance standards, and measurement and control systems.
Senior managers are also responsible for developing the human resource talent for their organizations. They must build both breadth and depth throughout their area, and establish a succession plan for all roles, including their own.
Although senior managers should be devoting much of their attention to the entire business, they also have to continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of their functional area, ensuring performance to business requirements. To be able to do this they must delegate operational responsibilities within their own team so they can devote sufficient time to their roles as members of the senior management team.
The Personal Challenge for Senior Managers
It is easy to see how senior level managers could devote virtually all their time to the development and operation of their own functional organizations. The dilemma is that the higher value - the role they cannot delegate - is their role as a member of the senior management team.
The challenge for senior managers is to put in place the infrastructure for their own organization, develop their own management talent, and then delegate the day-to-day operations to their own functional management team. This is the only way they can have the time and personal resources to fulfill that part of their job that cannot be delegated - the one that creates competitive advantage and sets the future for the organization.
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