Be a Manager and a Leader

by Aubrey Patterson

Whether you're a teacher, office assistant, or administrator, much of your most important work will never be noticed.

And that's the way it's supposed to be.

Be a Manager and a Leader

It's become trendy to say, "Be a leader, not a manager."

Before diving into the critique, please know we've said it too.

It's a well-intended, but very short-sighted and misleading statement.

It's also unnecessary. There isn't a leader reading or watching leadership videos who doesn't want to establish a great culture or embrace growth mindset principles.

Most can't find the time or support to make this happen.

Management is foundational stuff. No one seems to care about receiving verbal hugs, planting symbolic trees, and donning new team shirts if their timetable isn't ready, the building isn't clean, the copier is broken, and the wrong textbooks were ordered. 

Manage Hard, Lead Easy

Yes, we've all known a great many exceptional managers who aren't effective leaders, but have you ever known a strong leader who isn't an effective manager?  

We manage things so that we can lead people.- Dr. Stephen Covey

Management is to leadership as planning is to teaching. It's foundational and essential. And like a job done well by an official in a sporting event, few notice the management or planning when things are running smoothly. 

We should all strive to make our management predictable, clear, and nearly invisible.

All remarkable leaders have exceptional management systems. Ideally, we make these systems boring, to allow our leadership to be dynamic. 

Being a manager or a leader isn't a simple binary choice.

It's an if this-then that algorithm.

Need new systems and strategies to eliminate overwhelm and optimize your leadership potential?

Well, that's what we do!

Click The Leadership Bootcamp image to learn more.