Stop Managing, Start Leading: The Missing Piece in Leadership Development

• Are You Leading or Just Babysitting Adults?
• Let’s start with an uncomfortable question: Are you leading your team or just keeping them very active and busy?  

Many capable, ambitious managers think they are leading but are actually managing. Babysitting workflows. Approving decisions. Checking who’s ‘online’ in Slack. Jumping in to solve problems instead of letting the team figure things out. Scheduling back-to-back meetings that could have been via email. Making everyone wait for approval before they can take a step forward. They’re doing a fantastic job at ensuring tasks get done, boxes get ticked, and the higher-ups feel like progress is being made. But task management is not leadership.

Leadership inspires people to think, act, and grow beyond their capabilities. Conversely, managing is about making sure things happen in a predictable, structured way.

In other words, managers manage checklists, and leaders develop people.

The problem is that we’ve been conditioned to equate activity and goal attainment with progress. If we’re busy jumping from meeting to meeting, responding to emails quickly, and overseeing every little task, we must do something meaningful and valuable. But here’s the reality: Great leaders don’t micromanage – they empower. They don’t just keep the machine running – they build bigger and better machines.

If you feel your leadership role is an endless cycle of task delegation, approval requests, and progress updates, using directed authority (even with a warm smile and comfy pair of slippers), you might be stuck in The Management Trap. But don’t worry, you’re not alone, and there’s a way out.

The Manager vs. The Leader: A Quick Reality Check  

Managers focus on: 

• Tasks & Processes – Making sure deadlines are met, boxes are ticked, and forms are filled.
• Efficiency & Control – Keeping everything running smoothly (and personally checking all 237 PowerPoint slides before the vital client meeting).
• Short-Term Execution – What’s due this week? What’s the next quarterly target? What’s happening RIGHT NOW?
• Avoiding Mistakes – Managers are trained to prevent failure, which often results in risk aversion and stagnation.
• Being the Expert – They need all the answers, making them the bottleneck for decisions.

Leaders focus on: 

• Vision & People – Inspiring, mentoring, and shaping the future, not just the following quarterly report.
• Strategy & Adaptability – Seeing opportunities before they become problems. (And avoiding the dreaded “we’ve always done it this way” excuse.)
• Long-Term Growth – Helping people think beyond their current roles, skills, and limitations.
• Encouraging Innovation – Leaders create environments where people feel safe to experiment, take risks, and learn from failures.
• Developing Others – Instead of hoarding knowledge, leaders invest in growing the expertise of their teams.

Still not sure which camp you’re in? Here’s a quick test:

If you went on vacation for two weeks, would your team struggle because they’re too dependent on your approvals and interventions?

If yes, congratulations. You’ve built a management machine, not a leadership culture.

Why So Many Leaders Get Stuck in the Management Trap 

So why does this happen? Why do so many capable, intelligent leaders spend their days chasing tasks instead of shaping futures?

1. Fear of Letting Go – Things will fall apart if you don’t oversee everything. (Spoiler: They won’t. …or they won’t if you have done your job correctly.)
2. You, Too, Were Trained to Manage, Not Lead – Most leadership development programs focus on processes rather than people.
3. Short-Term Pressure – Businesses reward quick wins, not long-term transformation. So, you default to managing with short-term interval control.
4. Comfort Zone Syndrome – Managing feels safe. Leadership? Unpredictable. Messy. Sometimes, even scary.

But here’s the thing: The most successful leaders are the ones who dare to let go.

The Shift: From Manager to Leader 

If you’re ready to step up, here’s the shift you need to make:

1. Stop Controlling, Start Empowering
   Managers feel the need to approve everything. Leaders? They delegate and trust. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to know that the right people are on it.
   Reflection Question: What’s one decision you’re making today that your team should make instead?
2. Stop Fixing, Start Coaching
   Managers answer every question. Leaders ask the right questions. Instead of solving problems for your team, try saying: ”What do you think we should do?” You’ll be amazed at how capable people become when you stop spoon-feeding them answers.
   Action Tip: Replace direct instructions with intelligent coaching questions.
3. Stop Checking In, Start Checking Forward
   Managers ask, ”What are you working on?” Leaders ask, ”What opportunities do you see?” One keeps people focused on tasks; the other gets them thinking strategically.
   Action Tip: Start your meetings with a “future focus” question instead of a status update.
4. Stop Measuring Outputs, Start Measuring Impact
   Managers track hours worked, emails sent, and reports filed. Leaders track results, growth, and innovation.
   Example: Instead of asking your sales team how many calls they made, ask how many meaningful conversations they had.

Practical Steps to Become a True Leader 

1. Adopt a Leadership Mindset – Shift from ”How do I get more done?” to ”How do I help others succeed?”
2. Delegate Results, Don’t Dictate Actions – Give people ownership of projects, not just tasks.
3. Block Time for Thinking – Schedule weekly time to step back from operations and focus on big-picture leadership.
4. Develop Future Leaders – Your job isn’t to create followers—it’s to create more leaders.
5. Lead by Example – Your team will do the same if you’re constantly firefighting. If you set a clear vision, they’ll follow.

For example, Steve Jobs was famous for hiring the best talent and stepping back to let them innovate. He wasn’t obsessed with managing every process he was leading with vision.

Final Thought: The Leadership Challenge 

Let’s return to that first question: Are you leading or just managing?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, constantly approving things, and drowning in emails, you might be managing too much and leading too little.

But here’s the good news: It’s never too late to shift.

Challenge: For the next week, practice leading instead of managing. Ask more questions, delegate accurate decisions, and shift from execution to vision.

Reflect on how your team responds. Are they growing? Are they stepping up in ways they haven’t before?

Outstanding leadership isn’t about making all the decisions. It’s about enabling others to make significant decisions independently because great leaders don’t just keep the wheels turning. They set the direction, inspire the journey, and create the next generation of leaders.

Now, go lead.

Written by Antonio Garrido.
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