Here’s the difference between

leading and managing a team

Robert Glazer
July 1, 2018

What’s the difference between leading and managing a team?

It takes great leaders and talent to grow a successful
company. One of the best descriptions of a leader I’ve heard is
that leaders focus on vision and strategy, guiding and
removing obstacles for their teams — something like a coach
in sports.
Managers typically focus more on the execution piece,
working in the business. By contrast, real leadership means
providing a compelling vision and clear direction. Successful
leaders clarify priorities and expectations, defining employee
roles and ensuring that the processes and capacity required
for them to execute are in place.
The stance from which you lead makes a big difference in
your employees’ job satisfaction. To engage your workers
today, focus more on leading instead of managing. I’ve found
that most employees are looking for coaches who can help
them develop and make the most of their strengths, to add
value for the company. This is especially true when it comes
to Millennials, the largest generation in the workforce.
Leading a productive team entails letting go of daily
operations to focus on setting a clear strategy and vision —
the “why” and “what” — and getting comfortable leaving
your team to manage the “how.” This can be a serious
challenge if you’re accustomed to spending most of your time
triaging problems, putting out fires and managing from a
reactive standpoint.

Managers execute – leaders lead

As the CEO of a digital marketing agency, I used to review
every monthly report for quality before it went out to our
clients, which involved far too much “managing” time.
Realizing it would not scale, I sat down one day and wrote a
playbook on how to create these reports, trained the team
and then let them loose. I still ask to be CC’d on them, but
now I can focus on coaching people on opportunities to
improve, and they know they won’t get my feedback before
they send. This approach creates more accountability for
others and less doing on my part.
When I empowered the team to write those monthly reports,
everyone saw better outcomes. Here are three more ways you
can shift from day-to-day management to leadership.

1) Establish core values—and follow them.

While 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies talk about their
core values publicly, according to one study, theirs are often
hollow words that aren’t operationalized in any way. The
magic of core values is that, when they are ingrained into
employees’ daily work lives, they drive more autonomous
decision-making.
For example, one of our core values is “embrace
relationships,” which empowers our managers to make
financial decisions aligned with long-term outcomes, not
short-term maximization of profits. Someone might say to
me, “I made this concession for one of our partners because it
was the right thing to do,” rather than feel the need to ask
for permission.
To create the right conditions for success, employees need to
understand where the business is going and how they should
behave, to lead by example. Your core values inform your
company culture; and including the team in creating those
values can help workers feel more connected and
empowered.

2) Don’t neglect your own professional

development
Too often, leaders assume responsibility for everyone on their
teams but themselves. Although we all need to manage at
times, leaders are usually proactive; managers are reactive. If
you want to be a great leader, set aside time for your own
professional development.
Join local and national professional organizations, such as
Entrepreneurs’ Organization — a great resource for
networking and leadership training — or attend conferences
such as GrowCo to hear from other leaders who have found
success.
Look for groups that will challenge and support you in your
professional development, beyond networking and handing
out business cards. Seek out a successful coach or mentor and
create a formal board of advisors. Nothing is ever as easy as it
looks, so lean on the support and experience of others to
guide you, and learn from those who have done what you
aim to do.
And don’t forget to transfer this focus on development to
your team. GitHub, for example, allows each of its employees
to attend one work-related conference a year and covers the
travel costs if a teammate is invited to speak.

3) Spread the love, or risk burnout

If you try to do it all yourself, you will inevitably see
diminishing returns on the time you invest. Successful leaders
spend the majority of their time on tasks that utilize their
own unique skills and abilities and leave the rest to others
who are more competent in those areas.
Try this exercise to figure out how to make that happen:
  Determine the maximum number of hours per week
you can work and still stay balanced.

 Calculate (honestly) how much time it takes to do all

your necessary tasks well. If the answer is more than
100 percent of your max hours, delegate.

 List every single thing you do in a day.

 Create two columns to sort that list: In column 1,

put every task you love to do and are great at;
column 2 is for everything else.

 Now, stop doing or delegate everything in column 2

that puts you over capacity.

The great thing is, you’ll often discover that the duties you
aren’t good at (or don’t enjoy) align with the unique
capabilities and favorite tasks of someone else on your team.
Although it might seem impossible to let go of the daily tasks
of managing the business, getting out of that mindset and
focusing on how to be an inspirational leader is the best
investment you can make — in both your quality of life and
the ultimate success of your business.
This post first appeared on Medium.

What is the Difference Between Implicit and Explicit?

Contents [hide]
 1 What is the Difference Between Implicit and Explicit?
 2 Using Implicit in a Sentence
 3 Using Explicit in a Sentence
 4 Remembering Implicit vs. Explicit
 5 Outside Examples
 6 Quiz: Explicit vs. Implicit
 7 Article Summary
Implicit and explicit are both adjectives that share the same ending. However, they have
opposite meanings. This can make the two words confusing.
Implicit means not stated directly but implied or hinted at.

 She didn’t say she would kill me exactly, but she did say, “It would be a shame if
something happened to you,” in a menacing way.

Explicit means stated directly. In other words, something explicit is very clear and exact
about the meaning.

 I don’t have a feeling that he will fire a lot of employees. I know it for certain. I know
because he explicitly said that he would during the last meeting. (explicitly is the
adverb form of the word)

Now, let’s go over the specific ways each of these words are used.

Using Implicit in a Sentence

When to use implicit: Implicit is an adjective that describes some information that a
person hints at but doesn’t say directly.

For example,

 There was no rule in the student handbook against boys wearing skirts, but there
was still an implicit understanding amongst the students that the school
administration wouldn’t accept it.
 The parent told the child, “Stop. Or else.” Although the parent didn’t directly say
what the punishment would be, the child understood the implicit meaning that the
punishment would be severe.

Implicit comes from the same Latin verb as the word implicate.

Using Explicit in a Sentence

When to use explicit: Explicit is an adjective that describes information that is stated
directly and clearly, without any question about the meaning. Explicit has another meaning
which describes a form of entertainment that includes a lot of graphic nudity or sexual
activity.

For example:

 I’m not guessing that my grandfather is racist. I know he is because he said that he
was. It was very explicit.
 You absolutely can’t drink any alcohol at all while you’re driving! That’s not a
suggestion; that’s an explicit law!

Explicit comes from the same Latin verb as the word explain.

Remembering Implicit vs. Explicit

One way to remember the difference between these two words is to look at the first two
letters of each.
Implicit starts with the prefix im. Im has the meaning of in. People find the meaning of
implicit information within themselves, because no one says it out loud.

Alternatively, explicit starts with the prefix ex, which means out. This can help you
remember that people understand explicit information because someone clearly says
exactly what he or she means out loud.

Outside Examples
 Sedgwick was an heiress, and much of the book’s power grows on Stein’s implicit
understanding of what drove her into the role of Warhol’s “poor little rich girl” and
the way she used that understanding to frame her interviews around the dangers of
that role. –The Guardian
 So what do the findings of the study mean for women and women of color affected
by these hostile environments? Richey said some companies are already working
to fix gender and race related problems through town halls, meetings and new
committees where community members are able to discuss sexual harassment,
racism, and implicit bias. –USA Today
 She played a hooker with a heart of gold, loyally following the British Navy, yet
never finding happiness because she was, well, a hooker. Although the second act
featured jazz music, always a lurid sign, the show itself was not particularly explicit,
and it had completed an out-of-town warmup in New London, Conn., without
incident. –New York Daily News
 “It is not explicit in the slightest! It is a shame that nudity is still considered offensive,
especially for the reasons I talk about. I agree, we need to stop sexualizing the
human body…and that is exactly what my photos and messages are aimed at
doing!” –New York Post

Quiz: Explicit vs. Implicit

Instructions: Fill in the blank with the correct word, either explicit or implicit, in the correct
form.

 ______________ information is often easier to argue about and debate, since the
exact meaning is open to interpretation.
 _______________ information, on the other hand, explains the meaning clearly so
people can understand it easily.
 Some teachers are vague about their classroom rule and expect students to have
an ______________ understanding of academic behavior.
 Children learn language in an ____________ manner, because they are too young
to learn grammar rules.
 I can’t believe you cheated on your essay when I gave _____________
instructions not to plagiarize!

See answers below.

Article Summary
Should I use implicit or explicit? These two words share the same ending, and they are
both adjectives. However, they have opposite meanings.

 Implicit means not directly stated or hinted at.

 Explicit means stated directly or explained clearly and fully.
Using the information above can help to ensure that you don’t mix up these two similar
sounding, yet differently defined, words.

Quiz Answers

 implicit
 explicit
 implicit
 implicit
 explicit