Why Aren't Great Performers Always Great Leaders?

For many managers, the first setback comes after their promotion, when they realize:

I'm good at doing the work myself. Why isn't my team getting better too?

The reason is not complicated.

"Doing the work well" and "getting the work done well through others" are two different jobs.

Professional Expertise Can Get You Noticed, but Does Not Necessarily Make a Team Successful

An individual contributor's results are usually centered on their own work.

A manager's results increasingly depend on:

• Whether the team understands its goals.
• Whether responsibility can be handed over.
• Whether team members receive feedback.
• Whether the team is willing to work together.
• Whether someone takes responsibility for difficult decisions.
• Whether different resources can be brought together.

One of the most common management failures is therefore a new manager continuing to lead as "the person who does the work best."

TPES Looks Beyond a Single Overall Leadership Score

TPES understands leadership behavior in relation to several core management tasks:

Coaching and Empowerment

Can the manager help team members become better at their work, rather than leaving them permanently dependent on the manager for answers?

Delegation and Accountability

Can the manager genuinely hand over responsibility while maintaining clear expectations for results?

Influence

Can the manager help others understand, accept, and act without forcing them to do so?

Collaboration

Can the manager bring together different resources beyond the boundaries of their own authority and department?

Leadership and Management

Can the manager connect goals, people, resources, and results in an effective cycle of management and follow-through?

Personality Shapes Leadership Style, but Is Not Leadership Competence Itself

An outgoing person may find it easier to express themselves and influence others, but that does not necessarily mean they can delegate.

A detail-oriented person may be good at managing quality, but that does not necessarily mean they can coach team members.

A gentle person may be good at maintaining relationships, but that does not necessarily mean they can address underperformance.

In other words:

Personality provides tendencies. Competence determines how a person turns those tendencies into effective behavior.

From Providing Answers to Building Competence

One of the most important transitions for a manager is to ask less often:

"How can I do this work well?"

And more often:

"How can I build my team's ability to keep doing this work well?"

This is the dividing line between individual performance and leadership performance.