Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.
Steve Jobs – Apple Founder & CEO

Today’s uncertainty and disruption presents burning questions: How does a person manage or lead in VUCA time?

What’s better being a VUCAN leader or a VUCAN manager? I’ve observed first level supervisors, managers, and executives work their magic. I don’t know what makes a VUCAN leader or a highly effective VUCAN manager. Maybe, this is moot. There are simply no playbooks for how to lead or manage in these times of uncertainty. However, here are some thoughts:

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Increasingly, leaders are seen as VUCANs who can guide themselves or a group to do what needs to be done in a highly important process or project in VUCA time. These normal VUCANs can self-manage, possess high energy, are passionate, are humble, are committed to a cause, share responsibility, have high values, are highly credible, and get the job done.

Here’s an irony. VUCAN leaders think of themselves as doers, makers, hands-on, etc. When we’ve interviewed the direct reports of these ‘leaders,’ we found that direct reports often thought their bosses were useless administrators, control freaks, incompetent, evildoers, or information shufflers certainly not VUCAN leaders or frankly not even good managers.

Maybe the critical issue is not the manager or supervisory role, but the ability of a team of VUCANs to work together to get important things done. VUCANs are hyper-focused on getting stuff done.

Let’s look at one leadership or management model: orchestra conductor. Is this person a VUCAN leader or manager? A great conductor as a leader takes risks, inspires, causes musicians to reach inside themselves, and creates a performance that is greater than the sum of individual musicians. An average conductor gets the job done and ensures orchestra employees are well paid. I would listen to an imperfect but inspirational performance over an uninspired, technically perfect performance.

Work Lesson Earned: The difference between a VUCAN manager and leader should be noticeable. But, what do you do if all your direct reports are working @ home. How do you work your leadership or management magic on Zoom?

So, ask yourself: Do you want to be a VUCAN manager in VUCA time?