About 10 years ago, I was interviewing for a job that included leadership responsibilities. After the first round of interviews, I received an email from the recruiter explaining they didn’t find me to be a good fit.
Why? Because I didn’t have any leadership experience.
I replied to the email pointing out that I had over a decade of experience leading teams ranging from two to 20 people as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Army. It was on my resume and we discussed that during the phone conversation.
The recruiter replied that “military” leadership didn’t count because it was not “business” leadership.
Many people think that military leadership is like R. Lee Ermey’s role as the drill instructor in the movie “Full Metal Jacket.” While some leaders in the military emulate that kind of behavior, I found a lot of the leadership principles I learned during my time in the Army directly apply to people leadership.
Lesson 1: Leadership and management are two different things
In the U.S., in particular, leaders are usually managers and above. But management and leadership are two different things.
You manage things, like projects and budgets.
You lead people.
The skills needed to be a good manager are different from those required to be a good leader. People require more than just orders. They have needs that transcend being a cog in a machine. They need a sense of belonging and destiny; they need to know how they fit into an organization and where they and the rest of the organization are going.