Chapter 4 - Knowing the World

This chapter brings to light the idea of leaders vs. managers. During my years in both high school, college and even during the summers while teaching I have had a variety of different jobs. Reflecting back on this jobs and specifically the position of my managers at these jobs I can truly say not one of them was a leader. The majority of them were good managers. They could train their staff to complete a required task, organize work schedules, and over see day to day operations but individual creativity was never a requirement.
My pre-teaching resume ranges from Bomgaars (farm store in my hometown), University Power Plant, Golf course, the Gap, and the Four Seasons. These were the jobs that I had a “manager” that was actually labeled a manager. For the majority of those jobs my tasks were cut and dry and a simple manager was all that was required. Reflecting back on those experiences I wonder what it would have been like to have a leader in those position instead of a manager. Then I realized that all of the managers that I had were satisfied with being in a position where they didn’t have to think outside of the box. They were satisfied with knowing the daily routine and having a set protocol book to refer to when problems would arise. I can recall multiple times asking them “why do we do it this way?” and the usual response was “because that is they way we do it?” Even if there was a more efficient and effective ways of completing that particular task. Now I clearly see the different between a manager and leader. A leader has the power to motivate others and a manager just programs people. My question is… are we giving students the necessary tools to merely be managers or to be leaders?