The Lessons of Stephen Covey #2: Leadership versus Management

When we get into a position of leadership for the first time in our lives, we often find that it can feel impossible to just get from one day to the next. The people who are underneath us are not doing nearly a good enough job to work the day to day operations of your business. There is a feeling that you need to do everything yourself to do it right. This is not true leadership which is discussed in the article "The Lessons of Stephen Covey #2: Leadership Versus Management."

Stephen Covey's 2nd and 3rd habit deal with leadership and management respectively. An effective leader looks at his business from up on high, ensuring that the business is going in the right direction. A manager makes sure that the things the business is doing are going well and efficiently. If a leader spends all his time managing, how can you ensure that the business is headed in the right direction?

The solution will come from fantastic delegation skills and the ability to let go the "productive in the immediate" tasks for the ones that will help more in the future.