The toughest part of any organization is leading and managing its people. Leadership is the more strategic, “thinking” part of the job — setting a clear direction, long-term planning, etc. Management is more about execution — the “doing” part of the job — setting expectations, communicating, coordinating, etc. A manager needs to be a coach, or a “Manacoach” as my colleague Kevin Armstrong calls it.
Over the years, I have seen several examples of managers who were so good that I believe they could manage almost anything. They just know how to manage people. They don’t need great technical skills in their field because they know if they get the right people in the right seats, the skills will be there.
