Management vs. Leadership

People often ask me, “So, what exactly do you do?” Not in a “What’s your job?” sort of way, but more as a curious, default question at a social event. My usual answer is that I support and lead a 400-person engineering organization, primarily composed of software engineers. Of course, I don’t do this alone; I have three other principal engineers as peers, each of us focusing on different areas. However, in general, everything within the organization falls under my purview. I typically receive one of two responses: either a general disinterest, with the conversation quickly shifting as I inquire about their own work, or a question like, “What exactly does support mean?” or “Do they all report to you?” This often leads me to explain the nuances of tech management versus tech leadership. Not all leaders are managers (I’m not anyone’s boss), and not all managers are leaders. Some are both. Generally, the higher you rise in an organization, the more likely you are to embody both roles, but…