So I’m one of those manager type folks. And I like it. I didn’t stumble into it – I intentionally chose to refine my leadership to a point where I can leverage that leadership to manage folks. I think of both leadership and management as a craft.
Implied above, I also think about leadership and management as two distinct skills. Leadership to me is driving execution and alignment. Management is the added accountability to that equation.
Management Base Principles
To keep me honest, I’m committing to writing a blog post about each of these base principles in the future. But for now, they’re helpful to list to get you in my head.
- Good management is an outcome of good leadership
- Good leadership is intentional and refined over time, not accidental and circumstantial
- Empowerment is both better and harder than delegation
- The players are more important than the game
- Great managers manage themselves up and out of their jobs
- Manager effectiveness is best quantified by their legacy, which is best measured in their absence
- Some of a manager’s best work will likely receive zero credit
- Lead with empathy for your team members, your manager, and the business (and in that order)