Are you a leader or a manager?

Maybe you have thought about it, maybe not.

The question may throw you for a bit, mostly due to the fact they are used interchangeably.

I have a theory that I have been reflecting on for the past few years.
They are not the same.

People would like to think they are; they may want them to be but they are not.
Here is what I have noticed.

There are people that are great managers...if I am honest I may not have always been a great manager.

These are the people that make sure everything is done on time...they are great at getting boxes checked and making sure all the paperwork is there. Did everybody do what we said we were going to do?

Companies, really good companies owe a ton to their managers. Fair to say they would fail without them.

Leadership on the other hand, have different skill set. Big picture thinking and goal setting...trying to think three moves down the board. 

I heard a quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky..."A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be"

Call it critical thinking, call it ADD whatever but they just seem to think different. They can see form in a void. They can develop programs; they may just not be the best to manage them moving forward. But that’s OK.

I typically have seen people default more to one than to one or the other, but you can do both,

Truth is, both can be developed. One is not better than the other. This needs to be understood. 

Here is the thing, we as a culture at times seem to value these roles differently. This causes people to feel like they need to change based on the latest book or blogpost.
I would suggest they are both great things to be and aspire to. We need both. You just need to know which is which. 

Which one are you? First step to improvement is always an honest diagnosis. If you know which role you prefer or excel at, you can always hire for the other.
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If you are not hiring or don’t do the hiring, find the people to compliment your thinking. If you can’t find them at work, nothing says you can’t find a mentor outside of your workplace. Click here for more on mentors.

So which are you today. Which do you want to be. Which do you need to be to get to where you want to be. This is important part of achieving your goals. More on that here.

Whichever , is fine...set out today to grow your skill set...your dreams depend on it!

This is a short post and deserves longer discourse to do the ideas justice, maybe in the next post. It's sometimes a TLDR world.