There is a huge difference between managing people and leading people. My belief is that there are very few natural born leaders in life, but there are many amazing leaders who have developed their skills throughout their life. The number one key to being an amazing leader is to be emotionally connected to your people. Unless you care about the people you lead, then you will never make a difference and have the influence that you hope to.
People follow people who they love, are inspired by, and are motivated by. When you manage people with the stick, that only works as long as you are there holding the stick above them. When you give people the carrot approach, they are inspired to work hard, that is how true leaders motivate and inspire others to do amazing things. When people love you they will go above and beyond for you.
People are motivated by a leader they love, are inspired by, and they want to be like. Managers will try to burn people to the ground to make them successful. Leaders will light a fire in that person to enhance their own motivation and drive. Anyone who manages people will get the best out of them for a very short period of time under extreme duress and a lot of pressure. A leader will get amazing results, above what is thought to be possible for that person, over an extremely long period of time due to the emotional investment and the evolution of the individual, under the tutelage of the leader.
Leaders are made, they are not necessarily born. If you are prepared to put in the work, be vulnerable and connected to the people who you lead, then you can be an amazing leader. There are two types of people in this world, those who manage and those who lead people. Those who manage people to get a result, and those who lead people to get their best result.
When you are focused on getting the best result for your people and making them the best version of themselves possible, then the amazing results will come as a byproduct. If you are shortsighted and arrogant enough to believe whipping the people who work for you will get you your result, then you are destined to fail. I love this saying “The whippings will continue until morale improves.”
Embrace being that strong, loving, powerful and connected leader, so that you can get the best out of people by making them the best people they can be. When you love and care about the people who you lead, they will do the same in return.
Being an emotionally connected and powerful leader takes courage but it is absolutely worth the result. As human beings one of our primary drives is to be connected to each other. When you have the opportunity to lead people, you are blessed with something to be embraced and enjoyed.
