Sometimes we just take for granted that people are ready. Some people are great managers, but they have a really difficult time making that transition from manager to executive.

WHAT DEFINES AN EXECUTIVE:

If I were to define sort of the key differences and considerations that you want to be mindful of when considering is, is this person a manager or is this person executive, you want to think about their accountabilities. You want to think about the scope and the scale of influence that they have within the organization. The impact that they have within the organization, and of responsibility that they have within the organization.

An executive has responsibility that invariably, and I would say always, go beyond their particular area of specialization. The “C” implies that even though that might be a marketing executive or even though that might be a finance executive, that person’s accountabilities lie throughout the organization. And in terms of a manager, you actually really do and expect the manager to stay within their lane.  The exceptional managers go beyond their specializations, but the truth is those ones are usually getting ready for something bigger.

THE MANAGER TO EXECUTIVE – PREPARING FOR THE TRANSITION

Not every manager has the ability naturally to transition to an executive. And this is, something in my experience, I’ve worked with and number of managers who’ve had to try to make that transition, and some have done it remarkably successfully, and others, it’s become a defining moment in their career.

Some, are unable to arise to it because you literally go from being a manager and possibly a senior manager to an executive. It’s almost an overnight transitio in some cases, if you’re not careful. You know, large organizations have the benefit of sort of preparing managers. They take them on training, they put them in courses, they carry them out to off sites, and they get them ready and exposed and able to be good executives when the time comes.

But in a lot of small organizations, you know, someone goes into the inner circle overnight and it’s a hard transition. And if you’re not careful, as the CEO of that organization, you might be doing someone a disservice.

And it’s really important that as an organization, we when we’re getting folks to be in that sort of inner circle, which is what you kind of define an executive as, is that we’re mindful that it’s not the same.

DOING IT OR GETTING IT DONE. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Executives are leading leaders and managers are leading soldiers. That’s probably a good way to look at it. If you take a week and you dissect a week, managers spend a considerable amount more of their week doing things than executives do.  Executives, as I often say to people transitioning to the executive role, is you’re no longer a doer. You’re the one who has to get this thing done, so you get the doers to accomplish it. You identify the resources to get this done, whether it’s people, whether it’s funds, whether it’s partnerships. But the executive’s job is to get the task done once it’s been determined to be a strategic imperative. And the manager’s job is to carry out the tasks.

When I was a CEO of a fairly large organization. I used to say to folks, my primary job is to be the chief un-blocker.

LEADERSHIP REQUIRES EQ

There is a huge amount of EQ and psychology in being an executive and if you don’t bring that to the job, you’re going to have a very difficult time getting people to follow you because people want to be heard.

Good executives are remarkably good at identifying where there is an issue that’s causing the organization to stall, or to be off track and give just enough input to get people going back in the right direction without overshadowing that person’s independence.

There are times when you have to give instructions. There are times when you got to tell people exactly what you want them to do. But usually a good executive knows that’s the exception, not the norm. Executives who are always telling you what to do, lose accountability below them. But if I’m helping you to accomplish that task without removing your contribution to that or your accountability, then I’ve probably steered you in the right direction.

THE HARVEY KENT RULE (TWO-FACED) 

I’d say the biggest skill and it’s actually a trait maybe I would call it is awareness. When you make the transition from manager to executive, whatever level of manager you were prior to becoming an executive, you have to be aware that this is different.

When you have a C in front of your name, two people go to work. Two people are involved in interactions. Two people are involved in meetings. There’s you, the individual, taking me as an example, there’s Rodney and then there’s Rodney, the CEO and there’s Rodney, the CFO. And when you’re talking to people, whether that’s a stakeholder or whether that’s an employee, whether that’s a client, whether that’s a board member, you should be aware of who’s speaking.

When it’s a personal conversation, you can speak as Rodney, but you better make sure that the person you’re speaking to thinks they’re speaking to the you that is speaking. Okay. Like if Rodney’s telling someone something and they’re listening to the CEO, it could be a very different outcome from that conversation. So you’ve got to be aware and you’ve got to pay attention to the reaction of people to the conversations you’re having.

RESPECT? RISE TO THE POSITION

Don’t assume that people respect you because of your position. People might respect the position but have a different perception of you the individual. I think that respect is always earned no matter what position you’re in, and it’s your responsibility more so as an executive to earn that respect that the position deserves. People don’t have to rise to that and give it to you, you’ve got to rise to demonstrate that you deserve it.

Typically, the good leaders who are appointing the executives should be aware that you should choose people who people respect because executives are to be followed. They’re leading. By virtue of the title, by virtue of the position they’re leading, and they’re leading a wider audience than those before the executive level. Every executive affects and is affecting far more people than the other folks in the organization.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is a topic that’s not often associated with finance executives or the CFO and so you’re looking at a CFO talking about the executive versus the manager. And, you know, the reason why it’s so near and dear to me is I’ve seen many exceptionally talented and gifted people miss the mark . So if you’re a CEO and you’re watching the video, I’d say look around at your team and think about who on your team would benefit from this conversation and send it to them.