Functional vs Organizational Leadership
The word leadership gets used…a lot. Google “leadership” and you’ll get 6.9 billion results. That’s one result for most of the world’s population. What’s more, the wiki entry notes that it’s a “contested” word. We use the word loosely. When we talk about leadership in generic terms we miss important distinctions and don’t understand the skills needed to be effective. We fail to set expectations about what’s required of organizational leaders and new organizational leaders fail to recognize the new skills required.
To ensure leaders understand the contours of the role and what’s expected, we need more precise definitions. An important one for Constellary is the distinction between functional vs organizational leadership. They are distinct areas of leadership. Some leaders work only in the functional leadership layer while others must work at both the functional and organizational layers. Just as there are skills to functional leadership, there are skills required for organizational leadership.
Here’s how Constellary founder Suzan Bond defines functional vs organizational leadership.
Functional leadership
Activities to run a business function: product, engineering, people, marketing
Often starts at the managerial or senior IC level
First team is in the functional unit
Focused on area level goals and OKRs
Has and uses knowledge about a specific discipline
Uses function specific norms and tools to accomplish work
Focuses on function specific strategy
Organizational leadership
Generally starts at the head of/director level (though may vary by size of org)
First team may be the exec team rather than inside a functional unit
Understands how to make decisions and take action in the face of complexity
Strong focus on communicating decision or direction to multiple audiences
Thinks about the needs of a variety of stakeholders outside of functional area
Need partnerships with people from other disciplines to be effective
Recognizes the implications of a decision across the organization
Aligns people across org lines toward a larger objectives
*Organizational leaders may have managerial duties but not always.
The distinction between functional vs organizational leadership helps:
Set better expectations
Articulate the distinct skills required for each
Orgs create appropriate leadership development programs
New organizational leaders understand the new landscape
Want to learn how Constellary can help your company level up organizational leadership?