The Difference Between the Best Worker and the Best Leader
When I was in high school, I played lacrosse. I also sucked at playing lacrosse. Well, maybe not sucked but let’s just say that if a recruiter talked to me, it would be to ask me to move over so that they could watch someone else. I played defense and I readily admitted that my ruthless determination to get the ball to my offensive team members on the other end of the field was because that allowed me to stand still. I liked strength training and hated cardio (still do), so the less I could run around, the better my day.
It may surprise you to hear that I was also elected captain of the team. As you can guess, I was not elected due to my skill. What got me to the captain position was that I clearly cared about my team. I stayed late to help a teammate work on her stick skills. I taught a teammate breathing techniques so that she could recover faster from sprints. I gave pep talks to the struggling teammates. I always carried the heaviest equipment to the field. I treated my underclassmen teammates like friends and told them to come to me if they ever had problems with upperclassmen. They weren’t just my teammates; they were MY teammates. And they knew it, so they elected me. I still sucked at playing lacrosse.
In my second year as captain, I ended up being the de facto coach. Our actual coach was pregnant and started having problems, requiring her to miss practices and games. So I carried on with what I always did, taking care of my team. I didn’t care about the games, didn’t care about our record or winning. I just loved my team. Because of that, coaching was easy. Figure out where they are struggling, what they want to achieve, and utilize the team to help each person achieve their goals. Leadership was just another way I showed them that I cared. Though I still sucked at playing lacrosse.
We were undefeated that season. And it certainly wasn’t because of my lacrosse skills.
I’ve told this story to many business owners when they are looking to promote someone to management. Very often we look at the person who has outperformed everyone else and think they are the best leader candidate, rather than the person who cares the most about their team. While that may occasionally be the same person, it seldom is.
When you take the time to look at the responsibilities of the manager and the people that they manage, you will find that there is very little overlap between the two jobs. The manager often needs to be someone who knows how to do the work they manage but will not actually do it. I can tell you how to become a great lacrosse player and I can develop one. But I’m not going to be a great lacrosse player.
Your workers need a manager who cares about them, who is entirely focused on providing the resources they need to achieve their goals. This is the best way to have a team of people that are engaged, committed, and cooperative. It just requires that you understand the difference between your best worker and their best leader.
