Video Text: Manager or Leader?

Can you be in a leadership position and have no power?

You think so, right, you’ve been there you’ve seen it. We’ve all worked for bad leaders. Now let’s do the flip of that. Can you be in a informal position, not a formal leadership position and wield a lot of power? I want you to think of power as the ability to influence.

You don’t have to be in a position of authority to influence, but because of the way the Army’s structured I go into this assignment and here I am, 23 years old and I’m the one with the authority but I don’t have the power and I know that. Remember, power, influence. The non-commissioned officer who was in his thirties who was teaching me the ropes — I had the authority and guess what he had the power — because I was a newbie cutting my teeth. Yes, sir. “You can delegate power but you can’t normally delegate authority.” Aha, I’m gonna ask you this question because you brought it up and I’ll use two different words or one different word.

• Can I delegate authority? Can I delegate responsibility?

You can delegate authority but you can never delegate responsibility, what do you think about that? You’re going to be responsible for their actions and your own but you can also in your own way make them accountable for their own actions. That’s the best .. that’s the first time anybody’s answer that so well.

I can delegate the authority to a subordinate but I’m still responsible for the job getting done and that’s exactly what it took for Hawk to finally say okay. But if you make a mistake and I’m the boss and you work for me I’m still responsible for your actions Let me ask a different question, can you delegate authority, one? Can you delegate responsibility? I can delegate authority, but I can never delegate responsibility, Now why, why if Justin you work for me and I said to you, you’re responsible but I retain authority, how do you feel? I’m a turd. On the other hand, how would you feel if you had all of the responsibility but none of the authority? What do you think it could do for that person’s… initiative? I’ve given you all this authority and here’s the responsibility but you can’t do this and you can’t do this, and I’m not telling us before you try to do something constructive or take some initiative, I’m going to clip your wings after you try to do something. Now, would that stifle the initiative of the people on your team? And that was the point I was trying to make my blog OK what’s the difference between a manager and a leader between management and leadership?

“Management has certain responsibilities in an organization but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a leader.” Well, I think a manager tells you how to do it and a leader shows you how to do it. You lead people, you manage objects and things. How does this sound to you? I managed by Diane. I’m led by Diane. Who wants to be managed? Individually, we want two things. We all want to be treated with dignity and respect, and we all want the opportunity to learn and grow. Collectively, we all want to be part of a winning team, and we want our contributions to matter.