leadership vs management

Cal Turner Jr., CEO of Dollar General, was on the A16Z podcast this week. In a wonderful moment, Cal reflected on a lesson he took from his grandfather on the difference between leadership and management. Only achieving a third-grade education before he was forced to get a job to support his family, his grandfather was “a great observer and student for the rest of his life.”

He would add:

[Being a great observer and student] is the makings of a good leader. That assumption that you should learn from others, because everyone had something to teach him. Only a manager says, ‘I should teach everybody something.’ A real leader wants to learn, ask different questions, grow, and develop.

I love the simplicity of the juxtaposition. Leaders have questions. Managers have answers.