Early in the life of Operation HOPE, I drove out to Lancaster, California, to ask a small bank president for a thousand dollars. His office was glass, his desk was bare except for a newspaper, and his feet were up. So I asked him, respectfully, why he was so lazy. He laughed and taught me the most important lesson about leadership I ever received.

He had an underwriter to underwrite, an analyst to analyze, an appraiser to appraise. His job was to keep his head clear, read the market, and pick up the phone when opportunity called. That is the only reason he took my call. He wrote the check, and he became one of the first donors HOPE ever had.

This episode is about the difference between leading and managing, and it starts with a confession. For years I put people I cared about into roles they weren’t built for because I liked them and they said they were ready. You can put wings on a pig and hope it will fly. When it doesn’t, that is not the pig’s fault. It is the leader’s. I also explain why a manager’s instinct is so often to say no, and why a leader’s job is to find the yes.

Then I lay it all out: what a CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, CIO, and CTO actually do, how a board differs from management, how vice presidents and directors fit in, and how partnerships work at law and consulting firms. Nobody teaches you this. Whether you are running a company, a church ministry, or your own household, knowing who does what will change how you build.

🎧 Listen now — wherever you get your podcasts, or simply click below.

Prefer to watch? The full episode is on YouTube.