Via Talks at Google

It’s a cop-out when people say, ‘Well, I’m a better manager’ or ‘I’m a better leader’. Quite a lot of founders will say, ‘Oh, well, I’ve got these leadership skills and other people can do the management.’ I do agree that you probably innately spike in one or the other, but as your career progresses, you really have to learn both. You have to learn to get uncomfortable in whatever side you’re not as comfortable.

When I went to Stripe, I realized I’d been doing more management—which is stable, predictable, match the talent with the work, set milestones, set metrics, measure progress. And leadership is about turning up the heat. It’s about making people uncomfortable. It’s about setting a vision that maybe is not achievable.”

— Tactics for Management & Company Building | Claire Hughes Johnson | Talks at Google, at 16:40

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Management and leadership serve separate and necessary functions inside a scaling company. Management drives execution and stability. Leadership drives vision, change, and a higher bar.

Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO at Stripe and author of Scaling People, says operators must recognize which mode a given situation needs. Here’s how she breaks down the core differences:

Feature	Management	Leadership
Problem Type	Technical Problems: Solves clear, execution-based issues through human-centric coordination.	Adaptive Problems: Tackles the “infinite game” of evolving challenges and navigating the unknown.
Core Focus	Execution & Stability: Focuses on “playing the game well,” defining goals, and creating consistency.	Vision & Change: Focuses on setting the spirit, driving change, and creating the necessary discomfort for growth.
Standards & Expectations	Monitoring Results: Ensures the team meets defined metrics and solves “technical problems” where the solution is known.	Elevating Ambitions: “Turns up the heat” and demands more to redefine what is possible; willing to be disagreeable to drive higher standards.
Talent Needs	Junior Employees: Requires tactical guidance, day-to-day structure, and operational support.	Senior Employees: Requires high-level vision and milestones, as they already possess execution skills.

Great operators are masters at both. Managers build the consistency that keeps execution on track. Leaders create the discomfort that forces the organization to grow in a scaling organization. The skill is reading the moment, and knowing when to switch.