Things managers do that leaders never would
49 comments
·September 20, 2025pclmulqdq
serial_dev
He is a motivational speaker and author, he’s going to say things that sound great on paper, that inspire you, that make you feel nice and clever. That’s all that is.
FinnLobsien
Its funny that the motivational speakers, coaches etc are rarely the people who’ve actually done the thing they preach for a living.
The best coaches, “mentors” etc I’ve had would never issue blanket advice like that because they know it’d be wrong for most people.
aeternum
Exactly right. Each of these is just obviously wrong.
Leaders Overshare? Simon shares material non-public information on linkedin. Now he and the company are in trouble.
Leaders bend the rules? Simon bent the rules for some of his team but not others, now multiple past employees are bringing discrimination lawsuits.
Leaders coach and help people land softly? Simon kept too many low performers on his team and now the company's product is buggy, behind competitors and forced to downsize so his entire team is being cut.
ugh123
100%.
kumarvvr
> 1. Managers Hoard Information. Leaders Overshare.
And, bad managers play politics with information privy to them.
> 2. Managers Weaponize Policy. Leaders Bend Rules for People.
This is absolutely true. There is a saying that comes to my mind, said by a good manager, "Break the rules and justify it, I am here to ratify it"
> 3. Managers “Fire Fast.” Leaders Coach, Then Help People Land Softly.
Also true, bad managers consider people as "resources" to be used and disposed off.
> 5. Managers Reward Compliance. Leaders Reward Dissent.
This is directly related to the control issue. Compliance means control is easy. But this will not prevent them from blame dumping and un-ethical acts.
wrs
What’s not mentioned here is the challenge quite a few aspiring leaders will face: how to act like a leader when your manager is a manager.
godelski
#5?
Without adversity, what is there to defy?
jama211
True
nipponese
It’s kind of a dumb premise. Anyone can get the leadership or the management treatment as described here - if just depends if the leader/manager likes what you’re doing.
I have stuck my neck out of underperforming employees and was quickly disincentivized.
FinnLobsien
It’s important to remember the source here: A motivational speaker’s online course/consulting company.
They’re extremely incentivized to have a simple, takeaway that makes you feel good for 2 minutes
jama211
There’s nothing dumb about saying how leaders should act. It’s not stating how things are, but how they should be.
non_aligned
No, but these are slogans that seldom survive contact with reality.
"Managers Hoard Information. Leaders Overshare." - sure, until they don't. Because as companies grow, the probability that there is a hostile or careless employee in the audience approaches 1. That employee may tell a friend working at a competitor, may talk to a journalist, and so on. Most tech companies are funded on the principle of radical transparency, but then start compartmentalizing information because oversharing doesn't scale.
"Managers Weaponize Policy. Leaders Bend Rules for People." - likewise, this works up to a point. Past that point, if every "leader" within the company is bending the rules, you end up in an unmanageable mess, and outcomes that are unfair and legally perilous ("how come the company made an exception for Jill but not Joe?").
"Managers Fire Fast. Leaders Coach, Then Help People Land Softly." / "Managers Avoid Hard Conversations. Leaders Run Toward Them." - wait, so which one is it? Firing someone is a hard conversation, and in my experience, line managers often avoid it, letting performance problems fester for too long. Then, it's the "leaders" (the top brass - founders, etc) who decide that things have gone too far and we need to make brutal 10% cuts across the board.
"Managers Reward Compliance. Leaders Reward Dissent." - this varies, but the tolerance for dissent is usually higher among line managers than top leadership, simply because dissent is guaranteed once you hit a certain scale and your company can't be run as a perpetual discussion club. At some point, you need to get behind the plan or look for another job. I'd wager that Steve Jobs wasn't all that keen on dissent from random employees. Similarly, if you work at Palantir and tell them that they should sever ties with the Dept Homeland Security, I'm sure they will be happy to show you the door.
leakycap
I don't think I agree with #5 based on my experiences working in tech a few decades
Dissent is rarely rewarded by leadership to the point I can't think of a single example of it happening
0xfffafaCrash
Might be a cultural thing
I’ve both been rewarded for dissent from leadership throughout my career and had greater respect for and advocated more strongly for those willing to stick out their necks and disagree earnestly and productively when in leadership positions.
Dissent isn’t the same thing as sabotage. There’s healthy conflict and open disagreement which helps illuminate risks and gaps and uncover opportunities in productive ways and then there’s just stirring the pot or trying to tear things down without bringing alternative proposals to the conversation — being unwilling to contribute in positive ways if you don’t always get your way.
The latter kills the ability for the team to work well while the former is key to allowing colleagues bring insights and value to the team
ayntkilove
Then based on the premise of the post you have interacted with managers in leadership roles.
shermantanktop
I have a feeling that if you apply No True Scotsman like this, you’ll find that all the leadership roles are filled with managers.
Some of them are more leader-y than others but all of them act like those bad managers some of the time.
maxbond
No True Scotsman really only applies to factual statements. All normative statements suffer from a No True Scotsman fallacy. But it doesn't really matter because they aren't literally true to begin with, they're lodestars or food for thought.
Eg, if I say, "real programmers never ship untested code," well, I've shipped untested code either on accident or to address a production incident. I'm just some dude, but I'm sure many of the very best programmers would say the same. But I think there would be a consensus among them that you ought not to if possible.
godelski
Problem is, there's lots of true Scotsman and many are quite famous.
Here's a far from complete list of famous people. Are these managers? No? Who is famous and a manager? Are these leaders? Yes. Are these role models? Also yes
- Stanislav Petrov: a true Scotsman who prevented WW3
- Irena Sendler: a true Scotsman who created illegal documents to help Jewish children escape the Gestapo
- Rosa Parks: a true Scotsman who stood up for what's right and catalyzed the civil rights movement in America
- Martin Luther King Jr: a true Scotsman who led the civil rights movement and is so well known you'll find a street named after him in every major city in America and a ton of minor ones too.
- Jeffrey Wigand: a true Scotsman who blew the whistle on tobacco companies
- Edward Snowden: a true Scotsman who blew the whistle the on illegal actions of the NSA
- Daniel Ellsberg: a true Scotsman who blew the whistle on the Pentagon Papers
- Ignaz Semmelweis: a true Scotsman who brought us hand washing for doctors and saved hundreds of millions of lives
- John Snow: a true Scotsman who saved thousands from cholera and helped us learn how germs spread
- Katalin Karikó: a true Scotsman who pursued her beliefs, leading to the development of mRNA vaccines despite this pursuit leading to the loss of funding as well as being denied tenure.
Then there's millions more who are not famous or are less known. Just because their actions didn't change the world outright doesn't mean they didn't save many. It doesn't mean they didn't have tremendous impact on their communities.
If you look at the history of man, one thing is certain: the world changed by those who were not deterred by their obstacles. The world changed because of the action of thousands or millions of these Scotsman.
leakycap
My comment is pointing out that I don't agree with the premise. The article may have some truth but isn't necessarily an infallible truth.
godelski
It sounds like you're making mountains out of molehills. The author is clearly trying to be inspirational. Is it idealistic? Yes. But are these qualities you can emulate and strive to follow?
So why are you trying to find excuses to dismiss them? Are you afraid to try? Are you afraid to stick your neck out for what you believe? Do you want to justify complacency?
It's okay, not everyone needs to stick their neck out. But you enable the very thing you fear by telling others not to. Don't impede people who are trying to make the world a better place
cosmotic
There's a difference between people which aspire to lead and those that actually lead. Either can be placed in leadership positions.
jama211
You don’t agree with the premise that managers should act more like leaders? It’s not stating how people are, it’s stating how they _should_ be. Does that make sense?
2muchcoffeeman
The whole article is aspirational. IRL people suck.
dsr_
If it is dissent with someone other than the leader, and it pays off...
leakycap
I still can't think of situations where it paid off for the dissenter.
Maybe I'm limited by the small number of experiences I've had at work related to someone being disagreeable, or maybe it is rare to be rewarded for dissent even when "you're right"
andirk
Couple jobs ago they set a list of action items for everyone to follow to help productivity or whatever. One was stand at standups. I followed all the items to a T, including standing when everyone went back to sitting. I led new initiatives. I got more work done than my equal engineers. When the axe came, it was me who was let go first. The lesson I refuse to learn: stay in line, don't stand out.
meander_water
Hey ChatGPT, write me a blog post in a listicle format based on my video:
> Same crisis. Same pressure. Completely different responses.
> Managers love the ‘hire slow, fire fast’ mantra,” Simon says. “But leaders know that letting someone go isn’t about making an example—it’s about dignity
> A manager might say, “You’re not meeting expectations. Today’s your last day.” A leader takes a different approach:
> Managers love yes-men and yes-women—people who nod along and follow orders without question. Leaders actively seek out the people who will challenge them.
godelski
I'm disappointed in so many of the comments here.
The writing is aspirational, yes, but why are so many quick to nitpick? It looks like you're reaching for reasons not listen. If you choose to not stick your neck out, so be it, but don't knock those who do. You'll only enable the thing you're afraid of.
The utility of Utopian writing is not to serve as a set of instructions to achieve Utopia. It is to inspire those to push for it. A Utopia is unobtainable, but it serves as a direction to pursue. The world changes, and so too must our actions, but the direction appears to hold constant for millennia. We're the only ones who can create a utopia, but we're also the ones who prevent us from reaching it. The choice is about which side you want to be on. Do you want to work towards that utopia? Will you sit silent watching others build? Will you justify your inaction? Or will you enable those who only want that future for themselves?
I really do want you all to ask yourselves: why are you so quick to dismiss those who want to inspire you to do great things?
ionwake
One of my worst managers, funnily enough, was just another autistic programmer, who to this day literally has no idea how badly he affected me. It actually makes me laugh, sometimes I see him on the street, and he has literally no idea, just a slight face of disdain when he sees me, almost as if I am some vague recollection of a memory of a poor performer who couldn't VIM fast enough.
I worked almost 12 hour days for him and I never complained about this behaviour, even after I quit. I gave him the full extent of my work and loyalty and he somehow never even understood that. To this day I am sure he has no idea of how much I put myself out for him.
Almost as if he thinks that work life and personal life are two completely separate non linked spheres of reality. His ignorance to this day is almost a point of sheer bafoonery and hilarity which brings me a bit of joy now when I remember him / see him.
EDIT > I wasn't going to read the article but when I saw comments of managers offended by some random article, I knew it would be good.
oblio
Why wouldn't you say anything? Are those bridges that important?
0xbadcafebee
5 ways to pretend the world is black and white, according to that ted talk business coach guy
csomar
The question is: does an inspirational speaker that has no hands-on experience (beyond speaking) fall in the Leader or Manager category?
etothepii
Does it go with his book, "knowing why you do something can be extremely helpful?"
ChiMan
Of course, everyone in the room has already read the same leadership tips, likely earning you plenty of eye rolls and detracting from the straightforward, honest cooperation and on-task communication that are the backbone of all successful teams and companies.
ern
This “manager” vs “leader” thing is slightly overdone in general.
A manager who doesn’t lead will end up the issues raised in the article.
A leader who can’t manage will face administrative chaos.
jama211
I’m not sure that refutes anything in the article
IncreasePosts
1 thing that leaders do that managers never do: Call themselves leaders
ayntkilove
Rather a manager mentality in a leadership role calls themselves a leader. True leaders rarely have to assert this notion, it is naturally assumed and respected by those around them. The world is awash with people ill-suited to "leading" people leading people. We are all suffering the overburdening of society with the "educated".
etothepii
“Any man who must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king.” --Tywin Lannister
danparsonson
Actually based on the characterisation here, that's one thing that managers do that leaders don't
null
It's very easy for Simon Sinek to write and speak about leadership when he has never actually done it. Divorced from the messiness of reality, you can write a lot of nice-sounding platitudes.