Delegation with Assignment –
Some leaders I know confuse assigning someone a task with delegating. Delegating is far more than that. Giving an assignment is easy. I tell someone what to do and get to walk away from it.
Delegating involves much more. It’s ensuring the person assigned a task has the skills, training, and resources to complete the task and then following through with them until the task is complete.
Responsibility with Authority –
This is a personal pet peeve of mine. Responsibility means I have an obligation to do something. Authority means I have the actual freedom to get it done in a way that matches my skills and talents.
If you want me to be a good follower – give me responsibility. If you want me to develop as a leader, and feel like a valuable part of the team – give me authority.
Idea with Initiative –
Ideas are many. Actually working to make an idea a reality is very rare. Most organizations and leaders (like me) have far more ideas than we have initiatives.
It’s important that every idea you want implemented has a plan, a strategy, and people given the authority and accountability to make it happen. That’s when an idea becomes an initiative.
Leadership with Management –
Before picking up a stone to throw on this one, please know I’m a huge fan of both when done well. (I have a chapter about it in my book The Mythical Leader.)
Leading involves taking people somewhere, often into an unknown, where they may not go otherwise without leadership. It involves facing risks to achieve a vision, but where the path to attain it is many times unclear.
Managing involves helping people achieve and maintain a known, predetermined vision, by implementing systems and procedures to effectively move people forward.
Leaders tend to thrive in tension and challenge. Managers tend to thrive in details and structure. Both are needed, and there are overlaps for sure, but overall they are very different.
Intentional with Conventional –
Okay, this might be a stretch in words, but the thought behind it is not. In reality, we may not even use the words, but we certainly confuse the actions.
By intentional I mean doing things in the best way possible to get the job done – doing whatever it takes to be successful. By conventional I mean doing the same things we’ve always done and hoping progress continues.
Both of these may be working towards a worthy vision, but one lasts for a season. The other lasts longer – much longer.
Discover the final two words leaders often get confused on Page Three . . .
