I absolutely love the use of storytelling in EOS to illustrate key concepts. 

One of those stories is to show the difference between what it takes to be a manager and what it takes to be a leader. 

It's the story of two teams that had to cut a path through the jungle. All they had were machetes, sharp knives, and a person who's there to help them do it. 

Person A arrived the night before and made sure the whole team had everything they needed; good food and a good rest and all the machetes were sharpened. This person was there the next day to make sure they all got started on time and was there to encourage everyone and make sure they had what they needed. The team started the day, cutting through the jungle as fast as they could. Unfortunately for them, by about lunchtime, they hit a rock face and they didn't know where to go. So they decided to turn right and went for a little bit and then came to a waterfall and a big precipice, and they couldn't go anywhere further. They were stuck and they had to come back.

Team B, same scenario. The person with the task to lead the team arrived the night before, met everyone, made sure they would get rest, got good food and their machetes were sharpened. This person was there the next morning as well and made sure that everyone was rested and ready to go. But before they started cutting, this person got into the tallest tree and looked ahead and could see if they went in this direction,  they'll hit a rock face. There's a mountain and to the right of it the person could see there's steam, or something like clouds, so there must be some sort of water activity, maybe a waterfall. Maybe not the area where you want your path to go to. But to the left of it, it looked clear. This person then said, okay, we'll go into that direction so we don't hit the rock face and we go to the left of what looks like a mountain. So this is what they did. They cut and they were there by tea time. Then this person could climb the mountain and could see ahead. On the right was a river and a waterfall, but on the left there was a path and then a piece of grassland that would be easy to cross before meeting the next forest, maybe by the end of day. So this person could get back down from the mountain and tell everyone: We're turning left, we're taking this direction. This group ended up way ahead of schedule and they were on their way to success, whereas the first group was stuck and had to come back.

The difference between leaders and managers is illustrated this way. A leader constantly sees where we need to go and leads the path forward. Whenever there's an opportunity to scale a tree or climb a proverbial mountain, they do that to see where the team needs to go and then they show the way. They still make sure all the other activities are done and the team is motivated and they've got everything they need, but they also show the way by looking into the future, every opportunity they have. 

There you have it. A nice little story to show the difference between leadership and management. We need both. But it's really important that you are, or have, a strong leader. That you are able to lead your people and they are proud and happy to follow you. 

I hope you found this helpful. Speak to me if you want to know more about what EOS can do you do for you, to help you lead your company to success. 

Have a great week!