Kevin Karsner

The primary issue with leadership that I have is self imposed and personal. Clearly I have gotten to this point because others have faith in me, so I need to believe that faith. At the end of the day, we may have preferences for certain leadership styles, but they are skills that you can get better at, not inherent qualities.

I learned that my primary barriers to learn are internal and self-imposed. While there may be some outside factors, it is primarily in my court as to why I am not the best leader that I can be. So, I will lean on my strengths as a leader. That will lead to opportunities where I can practice my areas of weakness as a leader in a 'safer' environment.

I have learned what the differences are between both a manager and a leader. Through this, I learned that I am generally more comfortable and have had more roles similar to a traditional manager than a leader. While I enjoy this role, this module has given me ideas where I can improve my leadership skills and take steps towards becoming a leader, when appropriate, as well as a manager.

I have learned that leadership is more vague than is management. Leadership is associated with words and phrases like: visionaries, commitment, motivation, and birds eye view. Management is associated with words and phrases like: implementation, task completion, delegation, and ground level. It seems than management is easier to quantify with data, while leadership is more of a "I know it when I see it."

That is why I think both leadership and managers should at least understand what the other does and deal with. Without understanding what life is like "in the trenches" leaders can seem disconnected and unconcerned. Without… >>>

While leaders are generally seen as the more 'glamorous' role, I believe managers are 'more important' from the standpoint of your average employee. Managers, generally, have much more interaction and opportunity to positively influence employees than do leaders. Sure, in the long run good leaders can take the company in a better direction overall. But that does not always include all of the employees. However, managers have a better position and ability to make an impact on the day to day and overall morale of employees.