“Are you a leader or a manager?”

Everyone replied, “I’m more of a leader.” It wasn’t just what they said, it was how they said it. When they said “leader,” their voice rose through the two syllables, crescendoing into energy. And when they said the word “manager,” their voice sloped downward, dying into oblivion.

It was as if this gathering of ministry folks were equating leader with freedom and manager with bondage. Leaders want change. Managers desire the status quo. Leaders believe in people, and managers believe in paperwork.

The truth is some of them were excellent managers. They just didn’t like the word.

The truth is that we need them to embrace their role of manager to help the organization make positive forward movement.

A bad manager makes it harder to achieve an objective.

• Treats organizational money like their own money.
• Loves the status quo so much that they quell all mentions of change.
• Hordes resources for fear they will be used up.
• Obscures agendas to be more concerned about the present than the future.
• Gives no consideration to future needs.

A good manager makes it easier to achieve an objective.

• Gives helpful feedback to the team.
• Removes obstacles in the way of the team.
• Invests in the training of team members.
• Keeps the objective clear before the team.
• Makes needed resources easily accessible to the team.

We tend to assign the good qualities to a leader and the bad qualities to a manager. However, most leaders are terrible at consistently keeping a vision on track. Leaders tend to detest maintenance. These are boring tasks to the leader. By the time the organization starts to move, the leader has changed directions… again.

In the Bible, we see leader Moses boldly take the slaves through the Red Sea and into the desert. We immediately see he has no plan for food or water (Exodus 15). Those are resources to be managed. You can’t lead food and water. His father-in-law Jethro must teach him to manage.

We see the Apostles boldly leading the early church into a food program for widows (Acts 6). This is an act of freedom and grace. It is an expression of the Kingdom of God pouring out into our world. But the distribution begins to run poorly and complaints rise. The Apostles also complain this isn’t the kind of work God intended for them to do.

So the leaders turn the program over to a group of managers who are much better equipped to organize and distribute resources. The leaders are freed up from the maintenance and get back to seeing where God wants them to go next.

Leader and manager must be tied together. Sometimes the leader must manage. Sometimes the manager must lead. Partnerships need to be made between people who can best bring each of these gifts to our organizations so we can create and sustain the expression of God’s Kingdom in the world.

Manager is not a bad word. It is a wonderful word, and we would do well to redeem it.