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Players, Managers and Leaders pt 4We have been talking about the different roles in a business or corporate environment that are filled by various people. Specifically, the roles of the team players – those who are tasked with doing the work to accomplish the mission. Last time, we talked about the manager. This is the middle of the management team. The manager is responsible for accomplishing the unit mission but also in managing the team players. Taking care of their needs. Motivating them to push through until mission completion.I discussed some of the pitfalls of management. Mainly, getting too close to those you supervise. This can backfire in so many ways. Imagine if you had to fire your best friend. Because that person took advantage of their relationship with you and failed to do something you assigned them to do. How hard would that be?That is why you do not allow yourself to get too close to those you supervise. Today, I want to talk about the next level on the leadership scale and that is the role of the “Leader.” In some cases, it may the same person as the manager, especially in a small business.The “Leader” is not only responsible for the overall accomplishment of mission objectives, but also the planning of long term business goals and events. The manager may “think” about long term missions, but the leader actually does the planning. The leader will offer guidance to the manager about how to keep short and medium goals on target. But the actual day to day management of the team in that area is left to the manager.The leader is making contacts and contracts. The leader is the one who sets the VISION of future for the organization. Remember, the work is up to the players. The manager is the motivator. The Leader is the planner.A brief synopsis of my military career as an example...The reason I share that, is to demonstrate the different roles and how they need to focus.  That is the difference between “players, managers and leaders.” I hope this has opened your eyes to how all of these roles are vital to the accomplishment of the unit mission. Each person in the organization has a vital role to play. Nobody is insignificant. However, it is important to remember, the higher up the food chain you go, the less you think about the current time period and the more you look into the future.If you have any questions, please reach out and let me know.Please subscribe to this podcast so you can be notified of when a new episode is published. Until we talk again, this is Bob Thibodeau reminding you to “Charge On!”