World-renowned leadership guru Warren Bennis and his co-author Burt Nanus concluded that “managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things” (emphasis added).

I’ve persiverated on that statement over the course of my life and career and, I’ve found it to be true. To do things right means to follow the rules. To do the right things means recognizing that there is more than one right way to accomplish work and lead with influence. In my experience, when work is done under the assumption that there is only one right way to approach it, its falls short of greatness.

As an only child growing up in the shadow of successful, entrepreneurial parents, I spent much of my time focused on doing things rightly. To add value to how people viewed me and to build self confidence, this became an essential part of my professional experience. However, my fixation on rightness became my greatest hurdle, and after many years of fighting to gain more power and influence through working ‘righter’, I quit. I gave up the fight to prove myself as one who did the right work and turned my attention towards becoming more myself.

It turns out, my greatest work hasn't been accomplished by doing things right but by doing the right things. How about you?