How to lead instead of manage

If you want to get ahead in your career, you need to learn the difference

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Welcome back! I hope you’re enjoying the summer so far. How’s it going for you?

I actually LOVE August from a work and careers perspective, strange as that may sound. Just like that time from mid December to the new year, it’s often a quieter period at work (I know that’s not always true by the way - I used to work in Comms and PR where we were ALWAYS launching something in September!), where you can take a step back from the day to day and think - really think - about where you are, where you want to go and what you want to achieve in your current role and in the future.

Alongside my coaching work this month, I’m using August to plan ahead for the last four months of the year and I have some exciting things in the pipeline that I can’t wait to share with you. I’m also, like so many of us, doing the delightful work and home juggle during the school holidays. Hence why this newsletter is a little late arriving today!

But to business…

Today I want to talk about one of the topics that comes up most often with aspiring leaders that I coach and I know from your feedback that you want to know the answer to that timeless career development question:

“What’s the difference between managing and leading?”

Oooof, that’s a doozy isn’t it? The million dollar question really when it comes to your professional development.

And guess what? There’s no ONE answer. No magic formula. No guaranteed results if you follow a 30 day programme to the letter. We know this. We’re humans before we are managers and leaders after all, and humans are individuals. So it stands to reason that our version of effective leadership may look and feel a bit different to someone else’s.

However…

There are some fundamental beliefs, mindsets and behaviours that mark out the difference between managers and leaders. Below, I’m diving into this to give you my take - as a 20 year veteran of the corporate world and qualified leadership coach for values-driven professionals and aspiring leaders.

And I’m kicking off by dispelling a commonly held myth about leadership…