The terms leader and manager are often used interchangeably. Are they the same? Most leadership experts say “no.”

In Leading Change, Harvard professor John P. Kotter explains the difference as follows: “Management is a set of processes that keep an organization functioning… The processes are about planning, budgeting, staffing, clarifying jobs, measuring performance, and problem-solving when results did not go to plan,” writes Kotter. (“Leadership, in contrast,) is about aligning people to the vision…(through) buy-in and communication, motivation and inspiration."

To summarize, management is keeping things functioning in their current state, while leadership is about crafting and implementing a new vision.

business, coaching, leadershipNaphtali HoffJune 4, 2018Impactful Coaching & Consultingleadership, management, vision, actionComment

Do You Live to Work or Work to Live?

The upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks, which commences on Saturday evening) commemorates the Hebrews receiving of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, at Sinai some 3300 years ago. On that seminal date, a series of commandments were issued that would frame key elements of monotheistic thought, spiritual observance, and social interaction for centuries to come.

The Sinaitic experience was the culmination of a seven-week period that began with the Hebrews’ Exodus from Egypt (commemorated by Passover). That physical birth, so to speak, of the Hebraic nation was followed by its spiritual naissance at the foot of the mountain.

It is noteworthy that the seven-week period that separates Passover from Shavuot is a period of counting, known as Counting of the Omer. During these 49 days, the Torah proscribes a steady, upward count, leading up to Shavuot.

A Shortcut to Experience

A story is told about a reporter who was interviewing a successful bank president. He wanted to know the secret of the man’s success. "Two words”, he was told, “right decisions.” “And how do you make right decisions?” asked the reporter. The reply: “One word: experience.” The reporter pressed on. “And how do you get experience?” he asked. To which the banker replied, “Two words: wrong decisions.”

We all recognize the importance of job and life experience, especially for leaders. Experience gives leaders context for important decisions that they must make and insight into how best to lead, motivate and respond to their people. Experienced leaders have been through the wringer before and can use their past learning and decisions to guide them moving forward.

Yet, for many new leaders, experience can be hard to come by. And in today’s fast-changing, competitive environment in which more and more young people are assuming leadership roles, it can be critical for them to find ways to gain experience quickly in order to ensure that they make as few “wrong decisions” as possible, for their own sake as well as for those that they lead.

Celebrating a Podcasting Milestone

This past Wednesday I released my 26th Lead to Succeed podcast episode. This means that I just celebrated its first half-year anniversary. Mazel tov!

This is very exciting to me because it means that Lead to Succeed has survived the “podcaster’s dip” that plagues so many folks who rush to get their message out but quickly become discouraged and drop it (drops often occur between 7-10 shows and again between 20-25 episodes).

What do I attribute my “sustained success” to? Here’s a short list that I came up with.

Letting the idea settle – So often, we get inspired to do something and decide “in the moment” to go out and make it happen. More often than not, though, spontaneous action is not sustainable action. We all benefit from taking time to think and consider the implications of our actions before jumping in full throttle. In my case, a few months passed from the time that I began to seriously consider podcasting until my first episode was released.

Permit Yourself to Be You

The statistics are staggering. According to the website Statista, the current number of social media users worldwide sits at over 2.5 billion and will grow to 3 billion by 2021. Facebook leads all social media platforms with 2.2 billion active users (80% of Americans have Facebook accounts), while messenger apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are actively used by 1.3 billion people each.

When in Social Space, do as the Socialspacians do.

But Social Space is not for everyone. Nor should it be. I just wish that someone had told me this a bit sooner.

The Power of a New Beginning

Yesterday, my son Chaim donned his tefillin (phylacteries) for the first time. In Jewish tradition, tefillin are worn for weekday morning prayers beginning one month prior to the bar mitzvah. This allows a young man to become comfortable with the process in advance of the big day.

As you can imagine, there is a special excitement and enthusiasm that accompanies this long-anticipated moment. After a lengthy sequence that included ordering the (custom-made) tefillin, securing their arrival from Israel, etc. Chaim was finally able to put them on “for real”. And he beamed with pride as he navigated the process for the first time.

But we also know that initial enthusiasm is quick to fade and the newness of an experience, when repeated often, quickly fades.

Learn to Win Small

ONLY two days, or TWO DAYS? YEAH!

Well, it depends on your perspective.

For a couple of weeks in the middle of winter, I had tried to move my workout routine from mid-morning to early-morning, as in 5:15 AM.

I thought that the benefits of a top-of-the-morning, pre-prayer workout would be enormous.

I would be able to pray and work with added energy and focus.

I could skip the morning coffee and would be motivated to eat a healthier, leaner breakfast.

My mornings would be more open, allowing me to get more done.

It would also make for fewer wardrobe changes.

But I just couldn’t pull it off.

How to Break Through When You’re Stuck

It happens to all of us, and often at the most inopportune times.

We know that we have work to do – a job to complete, a new project to launch, some loose ends to tie up – but we just feel stuck in place. As if everything that we try doesn’t work.

We take two steps forward and one or more steps back. Or we start something and simply stop.

Or, worse yet, we don’t even know where to start.

Why does this happen?

There are many answers. One is that we get distracted. Another is that we have a loose sense of what needs to happen, but can’t figure out the specific steps to get there. Sometimes, we lose confidence in our ability to get the job done. Or, we simply don’t want it bad enough. (Of course, there are many other reasons, but these will suffice for now.)

Whatever the reason, getting stuck is a hopeless feeling. If not properly addressed, it can start to compound over time, leading to us falling farther behind and lose the trust of those around us or, worse yet, the ones that we’re charged to lead.

Connection: The Anti-Silo

It’s a central part of far too many organizations. Bickering. The lack of healthy communication. Folks sitting quietly at their desks, hoping to stay under the radar and not be burdened with more work, let alone someone else’s work. People prioritizing their wants and needs over those of the team, or those of their own team over the organization as a whole.

Territorialism. Silos.

Silo mentalities and the turf wars that they enable devastate organizations by wasting resources, killing productivity, and threatening goal achievement.

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