Leadership Isn’t Enough (Secrets of the Career Game #5)

Here’s the truth: managing and leading are not the same.
And if you’re only doing one—you’re not getting promoted.

In Secret #5 of Secrets of the Career Game, Kendall Berg breaks down the critical difference between management and leadership, and why so many professionals get stuck in middle management because they’ve mastered task execution but never learned how to create vision. Or vice versa.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re not getting tapped for bigger roles, this episode might be the reason.

🎧 Listen to this fifth installment of the 6-part mini-series leading up to the launch of Secrets of the Career Game—dropping May 13.

📘 Pre-order the book and email your receipt to [e-mail] to unlock bonus resources, live Q&As, and Slack access.

📌 In this episode, we discuss:

• What’s the difference between managing and leading?
• Why do people get stuck in middle management?
• How do I show leadership if I’m not in a leadership role?
• What does it take to move from manager to director?
• Why do some managers never get promoted?
  
  

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That Career Coach

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Build out the tools you need to navigate the corporate game: — Self Driven Mastermind

 

Episode Transcript

Kendall Berg (00:00):
Welcome back to week five. This week we are sharing secret five of the secrets of the career game in support of my new book that's coming out. And this one is one I wish that every people manager got hit over the head with on a bat. Maybe not. That seems extreme. Seems like a lot. Okay, maybe I just want them to hear this at some point. Like maybe every leader gets a bumper sticker. Okay. The secret this week is managing and leading are not the same thing. Managing and leading are not the same thing. I can be a great manager whose entire team hates me and we have no vision for the future and no strategy and no direction. But we get a bunch of shiz done. I can be that manager.

(00:47):
I can also be a great leader who has a vision and a strategy but doesn't achieve anything because I don't know how to manage. The two skill sets are separate now. The best executives, the best senior leaders, they are both. They are an exceptional manager and an exceptional leader. But we all have worked for at least one boss who was one or the other or neither. Right? You're all thinking of that one person. I want you to picture them in your mind. I want you to see them standing there asking for their 78th update of the day. Okay? Managing is a skill in which we can oversee, track and complete tasks. Right? If I am managing my team, I am making sure that they have tasks to do, that they are doing them and they are doing them on time, on budget, within plan.

(01:48):
Leading is creating a vision, a direction, a strategy for your team to strive towards. Again, the best leaders are both. They're creating a strategy and a vision and a direction. They have career pathing for their individual team members. And they are managing the work that helps everyone in that organization get closer and closer to those goals. And they're doing it in an effective way where each individual on the team understands the vision and understands how their tasks align to that vision and are marching in the same direction. Right? These are the best leaders you've ever worked for. These are the ones that you wish you could crown or give an award or that you would recommend for a nomination. Okay? I've worked for these bosses. They do exist, I promise. They're also the type of boss you want to be.

(02:42):
If you are going to lead people, you need to be prepared not only to manage, but to lead. They are very different skills. This is why people get stuck in middle management. Middle management is great at managing, not so great at leading. Generally. Making the jump from a senior manager to a director is one of the most challenging in corporate because you have to display leadership skills, strategy, vision, direction, road mapping, innovation, inspiration. You have to display those skills in a role that's not built for them because middle management's not really built for that yet. You don't usually have that much autonomy while managing a bunch of tasks for a bunch of people. It's a hard jump to make.

(03:27):
But as you progress through your career, the where I see people get stuck is they're either they build this management skill but they don't have leadership skills or they could be a great leader but they're not tactical execution oriented enough to get to the point where that leadership would be valuable. So they have all these great ideas, all these great strategies, all these great visions, but they don't manage their own scope of work and they can't manage a team. When that starts to happen, you get stuck at a more junior level. Right? So if you want to hear more about how to manage effectively, how to become that great leader, check out my book.