I think I'm a pretty good leader. I say that based on anecdotal evidence. When I take up a charge, people tend to get behind me and we all work together to crush a problem. That seems like leadership.
However, whenever I'm given any kind of management task, I tend to fail and I think I'm just now discovering why.
Management and leadership are perpendicular concepts.
Leadership is inspiring a bunch of people to do something, helping devise a strategy to do it, and participating in getting it done. Leadership is about looking out for the people who are working with you toward a common end. It is also about doing what needs to be done to make sure you and your team succeed.
By contrast, what we typically call "management" today, is none of those things. That's not to say there aren't managers who are also leaders - there certainly are - but the tasks of management are about satisfying managers above you, tracking what's been done, and vying for resources on behalf of your team.
What we call "management" in America, today, is really "politics." People who are successful managers are invariably good politicians and variably good at leadership. It is a skill that is more about lobbying for the favor of "higher ups" than it is about getting those around you or beneath you to a goal.
My mind goes back to what my seventh grade French teacher said about math. He said something along the lines of "Algebra is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. Well... I guess there is one thing wrong with it." Then he hurled a handful of papers over his shoulder and shouted "You have to care what x is!"
That's how I feel about politics. I don't care what people think of me. To me, making people who can't do what I do or what the team I'm on could do feel warm and fuzzy about it seems like the biggest waste of time in the world. Really, I think the evidence suggests I could give a flying fuck about making anyone feel warm and fuzzy if they haven't earned it.
So I'm coming to terms with the fact that the management path is not the one for me. I may be a good leader - I think I am - but I am a terrible politician.
