As I mentioned previously, leadership requires different competencies from technical expertise resulting in excellent performance. It must be pointed out, if it is not so obvious, that leadership is performance in itself, and should also be assessed if it is excellent, satisfactory, or below par. Technical expertise will not result in competent leadership.
I am writing this post because my supervisor and I had a heart to heart talk on leadership, as I expressed my difficulty in my role as a supervisor. At the end of our conversation, I was thinking that I was not convinced that I should stay as supervisor.
Our talk began with me sharing to her that I don’t want to be a supervisor. I lost my value added position then that was being able to have a fresh eyes on things that we are doing, and my ability to add value to planning and monitoring work with my competency in information management. I also surfaced the idea that supervising people, which is the key responsibility of being a supervisor, was difficult given my continued role as a technical specialist. Furthermore, all these people’s outputs are contributions to a deliverable of the division.
I concluded that I need a supervisor for myself, and I am more effective as a specialist rather than as a supervisor. I am willing to lose the RATA.
My supervisor’s talk shared that she also experienced a similar stage earlier in her career. To my understanding (i.e., she did not say it this way), she liked doing something more simple and straightforward rather than endure the conflicting perspectives of management that we somehow have to reconcile.
She said other things, but for now, I think the key idea that made me think two days later was that performers seem go through a performance wall transitioning into leadership role.
In running, particularly in marathons and ultramarathons, runners experience “hitting the wall.” This figurative wall is that point of the run when the previously challenging distance becomes impossible. Patrick McCrann describes it pretty well (for me, that is):
"The wall" is defined as that period in a marathon when things transition from being pretty hard to being really, really hard. It is the point where your body and mind are simultaneously tested. It's the perfect intersection of fatigue and diminished mental faculties. Or as you most likely remember it, it's the exact point where all your pre-race plans went out the window. (Source: http://www.active.com/running/articles/how-to-beat-the-wall-during-your-marathon)If you read my other blogs, you would know that I like joining marathons. Obviously, I join for fitness and not for the race. For this reason, I frequently compare work performance with running (as running is performance in itself).
My problem is when my supervisor role gets in the way of my own performance.
After a brief (but very belatedly, if I may say) assessment of my situation, I “learned” that I have two roles:
1) Technical specialist
2) Supervisor
Someone seems to think that by adding compensation, technical specialists would magically acquire the needed leadership and supervisory competencies needed to effect their respective team’s outputs. Furthermore, it seems that the agency or management is not cognizant of the reality that supervising people takes 100 percent of a supervisor’s time. If this is not so, either the deliverable suffers, or the supervision suffers.
So for people who craft outputs and supervise at the same time, adding P10,000 monthly to a person’s compensation will not make that person an effective supervisor. In case it is not clear, neither is it sufficient.
Going back to the “wall,” I guess I am at that point of my career when I see the wall before me. However, I must step back and think: Is this a wall in one race (transitioning from specialist to supervisor is natural step) or this is the end and I must transfer to another (I have to prepare differently as this is another race, similar to changing from road marathons to trail runs).
And so, I have to really assess this, give it serious time to think about how to go about it.
For me, I see leadership as a tool to effect organizational outcomes, similar to technical expertise. The two go together, and I don’t believe that one is more important than the other. Organizations need both technical experts who do the job and leaders who prioritize what needs to be done depending on the situation.
I probably said this before, already. Leaders, just like any other workers, need to be prepared. Not investing in them will cost the organization more in the immediate and long term.
Note: This post may be updated and refined in the future.
