Managers Maintain; Leaders Create Change—Why Leadership Is Scarce and Valuable

There’s a critical distinction most workplaces, communities, and even families overlook: managers focus on keeping things running, while leaders are those rare few who create meaningful change. Management is about reliability, schedules, and known outputs—think of Lucy and Ethel frantically trying to keep up with the candy assembly line. But leadership requires you to step back and ask, 'What should we be doing differently to get better results or greater meaning?'

Leaders emerge not just by breaking rules at random, but by finding places where the status quo is not getting the results the group needs. This means facing discomfort; disrupting a stable routine attracts resistance, and it’s much easier to let things run as usual. But behavioral science and organizational psychology show that only through periodic disruption—initiating new ideas, systems, or even relationships—do groups and individuals grow. Scarcity of leadership is not due to lack of skill. It stems from the discomfort of leading a necessary change while risking pushback. That’s why leadership is both rare and so highly valued.

Right now, jot down a couple of routines or systems you’re upholding simply because that’s the way it’s always been. Then, pick one spot where real improvement is possible, and design a small but meaningful experiment—maybe a new order, a different plan, or a creative twist on the usual. Instead of solely enforcing what works, lean into inviting others to test something new, even if there’s some uncertainty. Making this shift from maintenance to leadership is uncomfortable at first, but it’s how you bring life, innovation, and growth to your tribe.