DON’T MANAGE PEOPLE, LEAD TEAMS

repost from Keller Ink by Kathryn CardinJune 22, 2023

Gary Keller says, “You can manage things and you can lead people, but you can rarely manage people effectively, and you can never lead things.” In many organizations, positions of leadership include the title “manager.” But what does it really mean to “manage” others? Can you actually get results that way? The answer is, not really. When we change our way of thinking from managing people to leading people, we can more effectively guide our team toward the results we want.

Thinking of “leadership” instead of “management” may seem like simply a semantics issue, but the roots of the language we use around workplace organization run deep and influence the way we think and act. Managing is essentially exerting control and authority to effect change. Leadership is affecting thinking, creating internal change that then leads to external change. When put like this, obviously leadership sounds nicer than management. But ultimately, our habits and ideas have made simply managing much easier than acting as a leader. But don’t fear! We can change the way we think about our roles and become the leaders our team needs so we can get to the best destination together.

Would You Rather…?

If you are calling yourself a manager, you may in fact be inadvertently confusing yourself and your people about what your job really is. As we said, language is important. Take a look at these synonyms for “Managed” and “Led.”