According to recent global research released by Gallup, there are four distinct attributes people need from their leader: hope, trust, compassion and stability. However, these four attributes are not always easy to develop. This can be for a number of reasons — the quick pace of company culture, leaving little time to focus on the “team” aspect of a team, lists full of tasks, automated processes or, most commonly, because the leader is considered a manager and that’s not an outright part of their role.

Why is this the case? So often across industries, the titles “manager” and “leader” are used interchangeably. It’s understandable; both roles feature overlapping duties. They involve overseeing people. They involve supervisory duties over departmental processes. They involve being an acting messenger for the organization and disseminating information, which often involves organizational change, to their team members.

That’s where the similarities end, as the roles take on two entirely different meanings. For context, management is the process of organizing and coordinating the activities of a business or team of people to reach predetermined goals. On the other hand, leadership is a social process that enables individuals to work together to achieve results that they could never achieve working alone.

In short, think of “management” as a concrete, hard skill concept and “leadership” as a thought-based, soft skill concept. Knowing the differences, can the two roles coexist, where managers become leaders? The answer is unequivocally yes, if they incorporate a leadership skill set into their current management skill set.

Here are a few core skills managers can incorporate into their current skill set to help them become more effective leaders:

• Effective Communication: Team members process information in different ways. Being able to disseminate that information in a way that matters to them engenders trust and helps business strategy. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, the best leaders are skilled communicators who can communicate in a variety of ways, in different modalities and across diverse groups.
• Active Listening: Active listening goes hand in hand with effective communication, as when one practices active listening, they understand the issue at hand and can more easily anticipate and reduce conflict and friction, thus allowing the team goal to continue to be achieved.
• Empathy: Empathy is simply the ability to quickly grasp what someone else is going through. Skilled leaders understand that their team members all have different experiences, emotions, and reactions, and can skillfully navigate them.
• Effective Feedback: When delivered at the right time, closest to an observed behavior and properly communicated, effective feedback is a great tool for leaders to show their belief in growth opportunities for an individual, not “telling a person what they did wrong.”
• Self-Awareness: Do you understand yourself? Self-awareness is a crucial skill for leaders. When you understand yourself, your emotions, even how you approach conflict, that can speak volumes when leading a team, especially in times of organizational change.

Though simply stated, incorporating these skills into a management skill set can be a difficult task. This is where learning and development (L&D) professionals can support the process through such activities as:

Assessments

Where are leadership skills in management lacking? Assessing the organizational gaps to see which skills are most crucial gives L&D professionals the ability to design learning initiatives aimed at addressing those gaps.

Disseminating bite-sized pieces of information:

Once the skills have been identified, L&D professionals can help determine effective ways to affect change. Consider, what makes the most sense? In some cases, organizations may not have the time or budget for a full-scale training program, so how will these skills be developed? One approach is to share skills in small, digestible pieces; for example, a monthly company newsletter highlighting a top skill and how to practice it, a “skill of the week” feature, or a spotlight on a leader who has demonstrated the skill in action.

Mentorship programs:

With key stakeholders, L&D leaders can help design a mentoring program that pairs experienced leaders with managers to strengthen their leadership skills, and even identify, train and support designated mentors who can guide new managers in adopting a leadership mindset.

Measuring Change:

Which skills are showing the most strength? Where do gaps remain? What should be refined, and what’s worth keeping? L&D leaders can track these shifts and make adjustments as needed.

Conclusion

Both management and leadership involve valuable skills. When organizations align focus, foster strong partnerships between key stakeholders and L&D and put measures in place to ensure concepts take hold, they can build robust programs that develop managers into leaders and benefit the entire organization.