Learning the Difference Between Leading and Managing - a Personal Exploration!

Leadership and management are two very different animals. Leadership requires vision, insight, and giving direction. Management requires more structure and control, providing directions as well but only executing existing directions or instructing how to efficiently execute those directions. Management is like an investment- you want to invest all resources at your disposal as quickly as possible in order to get the best return on them that you possibly can. The term manager usually suggests that you are holding a certain role or position within a company. The term leader does not designate a certain role within a company. A leader can take an organization to different directions. While, a manager can only improve on or add to those directions. A leader is not afraid to break new ground. While a manager basically makes sure everyone is adhering to the code while on that ground. During my twelve-years of experience working in traditional office settings it became quite easy to spot the leaders, and just as elementary to recognize the managers.

Along with placing who was a leader and who was a manager, I was also able to recognize which category I am in training for at this very instant. I first came face-to-face with a mighty powerful leader while working in a summer program. I was lucky enough to land a secretarial role for a government agency. As one might imagine, since this was my first time getting paid to shuffle papers rather than fries, I was quite nervous on a daily basis working right next to seasoned professionals. My training was very brief, and I was amazed at the amount of freedom and responsibility that I had. I was basically left on my own for the majority of eight hours I worked each day. I began to use the fax machine, copier, and computer at light speed. My coworkers began to complement my work aptitude. I would arrive to work about fifteen minutes early and fax the contracts that were on my desk. I even began to drink coffee and read the paper. I began to feel much older that my sixteen years. The Front Office Clerk, who was my immediate supervisor, said I was one of the best summer staff. I was beginning to think what did I need high school for if I was doing such a good job. When I received my first paycheck I was so happy. Next, I discovered one of the best things about working in an office- LUNCH! Sure, I had been to a lunch outing before but lunch during your lunh break is very different. First of all, you are on a tight schedule so when you enter the restaurant you are immediately greeted and seated and your edible fantasies are entertained. Such a pleasurable experience! During that summer full of lunches I gained a new appreciation for the lunch hour.

To continue my exploration in the office world a couple of years later I accepted a position as a Data Entry Clerk for an insurance company. I realized that I had a long ladder to climb if I wanted to become accomplished in the corporate world. Working in this position I gained a wealth of knowledge about the different people you encounter in the corporate world. There were very few people who cared enough to show interest in anyone other than themselves. I found out quickly that in order to get ahead you must develop ruthless and cutthroat qualities in this business. In order to keep your position you must constantly prove that you can produce. After only a year at the insurance company I was promoted to Research Assistant. I figured I did a good job of proving that I was a valuable asset to the company. It was exciting to make more money and learn yet about an entirely different department within your company. I noticed that most of the managers for this insurance company were baby boomers. They all exhibited very rigid personalities. For the most part my conversation with my immediate managers were all very similar. I was usually asked about my numbers, how much did I perform in the past month? Next, I was questioned about how I thought I could improve on those numbers. There was very little personable conversation. I thought that mostly this was because I was a Generation X-er and they had already assumed certain things about me before we even talked. As a Research Assistant I still wasn't quite happy with my position at work. I often worried about how I could get another promotion. I even entered my name in two other openings within my company. I was beginning to feel it was useless I was never going to get ahead at this company. I began to look outside of my company for other positions, of course positions paying more money.

Actually, looking for another position was true to what young people in my generation were supposed to do. We have earned the title of 'job-hoppers', and I guess I was true to my generation because after only two and a half years at the insurance company I turned in my resignation. I was surprised to see my coworkers happy to see me aspiring to do more and sad to see me leaving a stable insurance company. During my last week at the insurance company they threw a party for me and gave me a generous gift certificate. I had attended an open house for a huge corporation and learned that I would be starting the very next week.

Not only was I starting my new career at a huge company, I was leaving behind my small insurance family. I would now be a small fish in a huge corporation. At the time I figured I was a happy fish because the salary put me in a new income bracket. I was driving a new car and I thought I was ready to take the office world by storm!

Well, I learned that I was headed into a storm rather than causing one. My new corporation decided that I needed an intense three months of training. I know now the meaning of micro-management! I felt as if I were locked in a room of managers looking behind my back for every wrong move I might even think of making. I had never had this kind of training before. I went through a series of tests of every kind. This corporation was preparing me for a very stressful position as Account Manager! I was so excited by the title that I would say it to myself over and over! Wow, I was finally making waves in what I now called the corporate jungle. Or so I thought! As Account Manager, I became leader of a team. A team, that I had no idea of how to control. It was kind of like throwing yourself out to a huge pack of wolves. I learned that every person on my team had an opinion and an idea. And they wanted me to utilize every single one of their opinions and ideas.

In addition, to trying to handle a team I also met some very frustrated customers. That's right, these people were yelling at me on the phone and I had no clue what the problem was. This was nothing like I pictured managing would be. I decided that I needed to go back to school. I hoped that perhaps in school I would learn how to handle these adversities. I had no idea that a new position could be so stressful! I went to my manager and asked for help. I felt bombarded with an array of problems that I did not know how to solve. My first six months with this company was a mess.

Not only was I working in a mess, I felt that no one knew how to clean up the mess. That's when I went over my manager's head to a district manager. He explained that everyone was having problems right now because this is a new feature that we are working on so no one really has the answers just yet. He suggested that I do the best that I can. He also suggested that I take a deep breath and place myself out of the problem and it would be easier to find a solution. Since this was the only advice I could find at the time I decided to use it. The funny thing is that it worked. I began to help the people on my team as much as I could and beyond that I gave them the authority to help them selves. I figured that I didn't need to be around to hold hands or instruct on simple things. Most of these problems can't be resolved over night so there was no need off worrying about them all night and day. The next six months I loved my job. I was quite happy with my work, and I felt I was making a contribution that made me feel good about myself. When I went up for my annual review I got a raise! Those made me feel even better! I even got to take a trip to Ohio representing the company. I didn't realize that the perks and pluses I get with my job are not common. After two years I also started getting that itch again. You know the one where you take assessment of where you are and wonder how you are going to get further.

Along with getting further, I was ready for another position. I wanted a promotion. I wanted to work in another department. I felt I had outgrown the Account Manager role. I had proved that I was good at what I do. I was yearning for another challenge. What is about Generation Xers that makes it ok to 'job-hop'? My parents worked at jobs longer than I'd been living, but it was something about that two-year itch that made my resume look bigger than the Sunday paper.

I continued on searching for that perfect position until when I finally found it, I was laid off. That's right, I was a Human Resources Assistant for an electrical company, and I loved every second of it. I went to job fairs; posted positions on the intranet, held meeting with different departments, and even got to send out anniversary gift. It was really the most fun I'd ever had at work. Then there came the meeting about our lacking sales. Next, I was doing terminations and lay-offs left and right. Finally, my own notice came. I was laid-off and told if work got better they would call me back around fall. That call never came.

Despite my rocky start in the corporate jungle I am appreciative of the many journeys I have traveled and I look forward to the mysteries that lie ahead. I am more confident, skilled, and eager to accept new challenges. I now have the decisive tools to fix problematic situations and create solutions to difficult tasks. My different positions have enabled me to be more confident when addressed with today's problems. The future of the world is unpredictable and the necessary skill set is undetermined. What is a given is that leaders and managers collectively have to work together to unite the diverse workforce.