Every day as a leader, you face a choice that shapes your team's future: Do you tell people what to do, or do you help them figure it out?

This fundamental choice determines whether you're managing tasks or coaching people to grow.

Engagement Message

Have you noticed this pattern in your own leadership?

Managing focuses on getting things done right now. You direct, assign tasks, set deadlines, and ensure completion. It's about control and immediate results.

Coaching focuses on developing people for the long term. You ask questions, guide discovery, and build capabilities.

Engagement Message

Which approach do you use more often?

Here's managing in action: "Deploy this hotfix to production by 3 PM, make sure you follow the rollback checklist, and monitor error rates for the next hour."

Clear, direct, task-focused. The manager controls the process and outcome completely.

Engagement Message

Can you think of a recent time you managed this way?

Here's coaching in action: "What do you think is the best approach for getting this fix to production? What risks should we consider, and how could you mitigate them?"

Same deployment, different approach. The coach guides the person to think through the process themselves.

Engagement Message

How might this change the engineer's experience?

Both approaches have their place! Managing works well for urgent production issues, new engineers learning systems, or critical incidents where quick action is needed.

Coaching works better for developing technical judgment, building confidence in complex decisions, and preparing people for future architecture challenges.

Engagement Message

When would you choose managing over coaching?