Truth 12. Visionary or beat cop? Your choice

The big business news that hits the headlines these days seems to fall into one of two large categories: Why didn’t I think of that? and What were they thinking? The first leads to accolades and keynote speeches; the second leads to handcuffs and legal fees. One is good; the other is bad. But both reflect a need for two separate kinds of management styles: visionary and beat cop. Visionary managers may get the limelight because of their fascination with the power of possibilities. But if you’re more enchanted with the power of rules, there’s a huge demand for you, too. (Case in point: A Google search for Dodd-Frank pulls up almost 19 million hits. People are worried about following the rules.) The beat cop’s job isn’t a glamorous one with high visibility. And you probably don’t want all that attention anyway. For a beat cop, a day without having to bravely smile into a phalanx of flashbulbs outside a courthouse is definitely a good day.

Growing up, we tend to know intuitively whether we’re primarily visionaries or beat cops (although, as second graders, we probably talked more about whether we colored inside or outside the lines than our leadership styles). As adults, we grow up to be varying combinations of both. So we shouldn’t claim to reside fully in one category versus the other, even though we still have dominant strengths and tendencies. When we become managers, we can use that dominant strength to do our best good for the departments and functions we serve. We will know what to expect from ourselves. And so will our people.

We tend to know intuitively whether we’re primarily visionaries or beat cops.

Here are some distinctions (generally speaking, of course) to differentiate visionaries from beat cops:

• Visionaries break new ground. Beat cops avoid breaking rules.

• Visionaries embrace inspiring scenarios. Beat cops prevent dire scenarios.

• Visionaries marshal strengths. Beat cops mitigate weaknesses.

• Visionaries prefer loose reins. Beat cops prefer more control.

• Visionaries need a sketchpad. Beat cops would rather have the rulebook.

It may be most fashionable these days to be a visionary. But the daily realities of business—in even the most innovative of industries—still require great beat cops who know the rules cold. They see their people as human beings who work hard to pay their mortgages on time and who would be very happy to stay out of jail, thank you very much.

And there’s still a tremendous amount of room for creativity and innovation as a beat cop. Great beat cops know that they must have the power of relationships, trust, intuition, and inspired hunches to make sure that this day turns out to be a good day. While a visionary’s career can be jet-propelled by the power of only one idea, the beat cop’s success is measured by a track record of daily, monthly, and yearly dependable deliverables in a peaceful “neighborhood” of everyday people who know him well because he’s out there walking among them.

That’s a mission that takes a tremendous amount of vision. If you’re more of a beat cop at heart, take pride in that role. Read up on the rules. And invest in a good pair of walking shoes.