Um...like...so...yeah...you've been kicked out of the babysitter's club.

When I was a kid my sister devoured the books "The Babysitters Club." She had so many that there was an entire shelf devoted to them in my parents massive library bookcase. Having never read any I can only assume that they are literary masterpieces about a group of kids that babysit for a living. 

My avoidance of this literature notwithstanding I understand the concept of babysitting - watching someone else's kids either for money or as a favor. When my wife and I were younger we would trade off with family and friends babysitting each other's kids for our date nights. The trades went fine and we saved some money doing so at a less than financially strong point in our marriage.

Babysitting as a profession has never interested me. I love my kids, have a great time with them and love being a dad. Outside of that I've never had a strong pull to be a professional babysitter. Many people are much better at it than I am. I chose to go into management instead.

"Wait a minute," some say "isn't management just babysitting adults?" "If it is" I respond "then you have the wrong idea about leading and managing." 

As a manager of managers I've heard often from young managers "I don't like to babysit," "I don't want to babysit" or "why do I have to babysit?" Fundamentally this level of thinking is very flawed. Here are a few reasons why:

1. A manager manages processes. 

2. A leader leads people. 

3. Babysitters change baby's diapers, wipe thier noses, feed them and ensure thier safety and happiness during the short time window they babysit.

4. A manager sets clear expectations and then follows up to inspect what they expect.

5. Babysitters watch every move, keep an eye on every moment.

6. A leader creates vision, transfers the vision to other intelligent adults and inspires them to believe in the vision.

7. Managers do thier job - they "manage" and oversee all thing related to the desired outcome.

8. Babysitters understand that they baby has needs that they can not meet by themselves.

9. Leaders understand that the people on their team are both capable and willing to meet thier needs and the needs of the team with the right education, direction, motivation and accountability.

10. Leaders respect individual differences and allow for them in the process of working together for a goal or objective.

The assumption young, inexperienced and/or lazy managers make is that just because they are working with adults they do not need to follow up and inspect thier expectations. Naively and lazily they think that just because they (the manager) says something needs to be done it will get done right, the first time, with no follow up and no other work on the managers part. Having to actually do the job of managing the process and lead the people then becomes "babysitting" in the immature manager's eyes. 

Great managers and great leaders know that everyone in the process of achieving the goal plays a part and that their own part is to not only be the visionary, but also to be THE accountant. Inspiration and accountability are two respectful and powerful tools the strong, mature leader/manager uses when working with adults. Devisive words like "babysitting" expose the leader as a confused and/or lazy manager who either does not understand their own role or does not want to play their part.

If you want to be a great manager and an inspirational leader retire the term babysitting from your management vocabulary. You have officially been kicked out of the babysitter's club and have stepped into the mature world of leadership. Welcome!

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