If you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes!

Will Ferrell, playing the illustrious racer Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last!” Now, I have never been accused of being swift of foot; they used to time my 40 yard sprints with an sundial. But, to me, being first doesn’t necessarily mean winning the race. It means leading the charge. There are two ways to act when placed in charge of a group of people: lead or manage. A manager directs from the rear, letting others pull the load and relies on the reports from the front to make decisions. A leader pulls the load from the front, making decisions based on what they see for themselves and ensuring that the party goes in the proper direction in an instant. If you’re a manager, hanging around the back of the pack, all you see are the ass-end of everyone in front of you. You aren’t in the trenches, doing the work. You’re a decision maker, sure. But are you effective? Are you respected? Are you valuable?  A leader is all of those things and more because they are in it. Everyone is given the opportunity to be in charge of others at some point in our lives. For some of us, it almost becomes a habit. When you’re given that opportunity, are you going to manage? Or are you going to lead?