It’s not uncommon to hear this common statement “we manage people.” Can humans be managed?
To manage people means to control everything about their life. To control their time, decision, plan, thoughts pattern, and ultimately their destiny. This is like witchcraft. I have come to realize that this kind of statement is not uncommon among most managers. This is what they do to you at your workplace, they manage you; they control your time; your plan; your decisions; how you use your talent; and ultimately your destiny. This is the servitude of the highest order.
Difference Between Leaders and Managers
While managers maintain followers leaders produce leaders. Managers use manipulative strategies to drive out performances – even when those they manage remain followers. The ultimate goal of a leader is to produce leaders. Leaders want to see you become like them, or even more. They are the ones who produce successors. Their history can never be erased.
Managers micro-manage people. They have a monitoring system in place that checks and reports the activities of those who work under them. But leaders allow you to work with little or no supervision. Managers manage people like other resources – the same way they manage time, money, and materials.
If you are a team lead, or you head a department in your organization and your subordinates keep coming to you for help on certain issues severally, there is a problem. True leaders train followers to become leaders.
The objective of every true leader is to have a successor. Leaders are the ones that make an impact and history but most managers are not remembered after their death. Most people that you called leaders are not leaders (especially most politicians in your country). Hitler was not a leader.
Leadership is not about leading people; it’s about taking the lead. Leaders are those who go to work and work. This is why there are always more workers than leaders because the price for leadership is not cheap talk. It demands efficient use of self, energy, time, and resources.
Everybody is born to become a leader. What keeps you as a follower is your mentality. The lion is the king of the jungle because of the way he thinks. A pack of sheep led by a lion will always defeat a pack of lions led by a sheep. Effective leadership can turn a coward into a warrior.
It’s not about your ability, it’s about your mentality that makes you become a true leader. The lion is not the biggest in the jungle nor the strongest. The giraffe and elephant are bigger than the Lion but when the lion sees them, he eats them for launch.
Many have the potential of becoming a true leaders but their destiny is smothered by the fear of people. In most cases, you may need to walk alone to pursue your assignment while others may have to catch up with you later. Leadership is doing something different. Everybody is looking for a job why can’t you start your own business? You have to be delivered from culture to become a true leader. Leaders are respected because they do what others are afraid to do.
Recap
A good leader doesn’t maintain followers, they produce leaders. Unlike managers, leaders do not manage people; It’s your attitude, not your aptitude; It’s not your ability but your mentality that makes you become an effective leader. You are born to lead, but it’s your mind (affected by bad teachings) that keeps you as a follower. Until you break out of norms you may die as a follower. You can’t become a leader as sheep because sheep are always behind. You’ve got to become a lion to become a leader. I wish we have more leaders than managers.
Varsity Experience 