Let’s just lay the cards on the table before we even really dive in – being a working manager is hard!  In today’s environment and economy no one has spare time, no one has spare bodies lying around on their team to pick up extra work when it’s handed to us, no one has any fat in their organization anymore.  Every employee has to be firing on all cylinders, all the time.  That means if you are managing people, you are doing two jobs, working and managing.  But by doing that, are you short changing those team members working under you?  Are you steering the team, or paddling the canoe?

First, let’s explore the difference between a manager and a leader.  Is there a difference?  Absolutely there is.  To me a leader is someone who inspires the team, leads them to a vision.  They are able to help the team see the vision and motivates them to get there.  A manager is someone who organizes resources and tasks to achieve objectives.  Think about your boss today?  Do you understand the vision of the company you are working for?  Do you understand the role you play in achieving that vision?  Are you motivated and excited to go to work each morning?

A leader does not always have to be a direct manager, they can be your mentor, or a manager of a different department.  When I first started working back in 1997 in the medical device field, for me, the leader I was most inspired by was in fact, not my direct manager.  I took direction and met the goals laid out by my manager but that’s not who inspired me or drove my development, it was actually the head of a different department.

There is a clear distinction between vision and execution.  Leaders are passionate about setting a long-term vision and driving change, inspiring teams to pursue shared goals and embrace innovation. Managers, on the other hand, focus on the execution of established processes and ensuring tasks are completed timely and efficiently.  Both are certainly needed for an organization to be successful but operate very differently within an organization.

When thinking about managers vs leaders, also think about people vs processes.  Leaders prioritize people, building relationships, and building trust.  They focus on people and strategy development, aligning with the mission and vision of the company.  Managers task themselves with meeting goals and objectives while emphasizing processes and adherence to policies.  Deadlines and deliverables are more important than strategy and development.  Neither of these approaches are good or bad, better or worse, they are both required but different.

The next logical question is, can a person be both a leader and a manager?  Of course they can.  The roles are complementary but the organization requires both.  A person with the skill sets of a leader and a manager should be able to assess a situation and determine which skills are needed.  A person with both skill sets should be able to be tactical, in the weeds, when the situation requires them to drive execution and timelines.  They should also be able to be strategic and vision driven when the organization requires that. 

Many senior managers fail to identify the skill sets of mid-level managers, or lack thereof.  I have seen situations where people are terminated from a company because they can’t effectively manage people.  So many times, stand out individual contributors are promoted into manager roles, because that is the next logical step on the career ladder.  However, they do not have the appropriate skills, nor does senior management aid in the development of those skills.  They are thrown into the ocean but have no idea how to swim.  Or in keeping with the theme of this blog, they are thrown into a canoe and have no idea how to steer or paddle. 

One way in which those new managers fail is they keep the workload that they had as an individual contributor and are handed the added responsibility of managing people.  Hence, the working manager.  A new manager will jump in with both feet, or maybe head first, eager to meet deliverables and lead a new team.  However, they may quickly recognize the challenges of balancing people management with personal work load.  They need to transition from being responsible for their deliverables to now being accountable for their team’s performance.  This alone can lead to significant stress and anxiety.  Managing multiple projects, timelines, priorities, and people leads to multitasking.  Many of you reading this may be multitasking right now.  Tell me with a straight face that you have never read a paragraph while thinking about something else, you get to the end and say, “wait, what did I just read, what did that say”.  Busted, it’s ok to admit it, we’re in a safe space here.  I do it ALL THE TIME.  Same thing happens when we are listening to an employee.  Active listening requires focus.  You can’t do that while typing, or reading, of writing.  Your employees deserve and need your full attention.  Multitasking generally leads to lower emotional intelligence and impacts our ability to pick up important social cues.  What we think is helping us get more done, is actually reducing our productivity.

Being a people manager requires you to manage not just technical issues, but conflict, interpersonal dynamics, along with coaching, mentoring and occasionally disciplining.  All of these things take time away from your “work”.  It is a constant balancing act.  And don’t forget, oh yes, you have a life too.  Now you have something else to factor into your already strained work life balance.  Something else no one tells you, as you move up in an organization, the need to navigate bureaucracy and politics takes time as well.  A good manager shields their employees from all of the politics so that they can focus on their work.  When you took this role, you literally may have had no idea what you were signing up for.  Managing the politics requires a thoughtful approach and strategi thinking.  Which, by the way, require time.

For those of you that currently manage people, how many times has a task come across your desk, and just to get it done you do it yourself, thinking you were being helpful, just taking one for the team.  I have completed so many tasks in my career because the time to explain the need to someone else or provide the training would take me more time than just doing it myself!  A wise coworker once said to me, as a manager, every task that you complete yourself, steals the opportunity to learn, and do, away from one of your people.  WOW.  That has stuck with me.  On the contrary, I have worked with and for managers, who are delegation masters.  Literally Teflon, nothing sticks to them and the proverbial crap only flows downhill.  I am not a fan of this work ethic; there is a fine line here between master delegator and empowerment.  Always take the time to assess a task and determine who is the best person to handle it while considering such factors as visibility, time, and risk. 

I’d bet good money that at some point in your career, you’ve crossed paths with a star chaser. You know the type — the guy or gal who stays quiet in the background until a high‑visibility, high‑priority project pops up, and suddenly they’re front and center, hand waving, ready for their moment in the spotlight. They avoid the routine work, the unglamorous tasks, the day‑to‑day grind that actually keeps the team moving. They’re not interested in consistency; they’re interested in applause and status. And let’s be honest — it’s frustrating. Because while they’re waiting for their next big “ta‑da,” everyone else is doing the real work that makes those moments possible.

So how do I do it all?  The hard answer, you might not be able to.  You need to have the organizational intelligence to prioritize what you need to accomplish, what your team needs to accomplish, and what your team needs from you. 

• One critical element to success is accepting and understanding that being busy does not equate to productivity.  The work you and your team are doing must align with the larger company goals and drive the organization towards its mission. 
• Stop doing things the same way you have always done them.  Challenge every task; do I need to be doing this, what value am I adding, if I stopped doing it who would care? 
• Relentlessly prioritize, burnout can happen very quickly when you or your team feel like every step you take forward results in two steps backwards.
• Encourage and empower your team to make risk-based decisions and solve problems on their own.  Only bring you in when you are truly needed.  That way when they come to you, you know they have done their work up front.  They learn and you get time back.
• Set clear expectations, reinforce accountability, and celebrate wins.  The team will be motivated to work independently if they feel they are empowered but safe to fail.
• Take time to map out clear growth opportunities.  Create a vision for the team, help them understand the value that they add and how it will be recognized.
• STOP MULTITASKING.  When you are with an employee, whether one on one or in a group, focus and listen.  Feeling heard is a basic human need.  If you empower your employees, when they come to you, they will truly need you – you need to pay attention.
• Lastly, give timely, candid feedback.  And accept feedback, you’re not perfect either!

Bottom Line: Make time to give time. As a manager, your team needs you — and each person needs you in a different way. Their expectations vary based on skill level, personality, confidence, and even what’s happening in their personal lives. This is where emotional intelligence becomes your superpower. Today’s organizations are far too lean to support managers who only manage. You’re expected to be a working manager, balancing your own deliverables while supporting the people who rely on you. The key is finding that sweet spot: giving the company what it needs from you while giving your team what they need from you. And some days, it feels like everyone wants a piece of you — because they do. But the leaders who learn to navigate that tension with intention are the ones who build strong teams and sustainable careers.

This month’s recipe digs deep into Maine’s roots — literally. It’s a dessert made with potatoes. I know… who thinks of potatoes when they think of dessert? In Maine, potatoes are so abundant they even put them into desserts.  Of course I am talking about the Needham.  The traditional Needham is made from sugar, chocolate, coconut, and mashed potato.  Stick with me, they are amazing.

They are believed to have originated in central Maine around the 1870 with John Seavey, a confectioner.  Seavey named the treat after George C. Needham, an Irish born evangelist who was popular in the area at the time.  They became increasingly popular with home cooks during the Great Depression as most people had ready access to potatoes.  Like anything else, the recipe has evolved over time, fell out of favor, and only recently become popular again as the Maine Needham Company has worked to restore the Needham to its original glory.  The last Saturday in September is even recognized as Maine Needham Day!

Needham

1 – 2 lb bag of confectioners’ sugar

¾ C mashed potato (just potato, no butter, milk, etc)

½ C unsalted butter, melted

1 – 14 oz bag sweetened coconut

2 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

4 oz unsweet chocolate

1 – 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp shortening

Butter a rimmed 15 ½ X 10 ½ pan (jelly roll pan)

In a large bowl add sugar, potato, melted butter, coconut, vanilla, and salt.  Mix on low until all combined

Transfer into the buttered pan and press evenly

Let sit for 1 hour at room temperature

Cut into even squares, maybe 2 in X 2 in

Melt the chocolate and chocolate chips in a double boiler, once melted, remove from heat and add the shortening

Dip each square into the chocolate and place on parchment paper

Let cool about 1 hour

Store in an airtight container

Try them, I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.  And don’t even get me started on the potato donuts from The Holy Donut in Portland, worth a flight to Maine just for a donut, trust me.