A few years after starting my career, I was promoted to assistant features editor at a daily newspaper. And … I didn’t love it. Maybe I hadn’t had enough time to report and write, but it wasn’t the leadership role I imagined when I applied. It was management.

“Did you fill out your time card?”

“Did you guys really go to lunch (and not invite me)?”

“Is your story ready yet? How about now? Now?”

It felt like adult parenting, and I was barely able to keep up with my own newly acquired adultness. I eventually got the hang of it and learned not to let those things drag me down, but it was an excellent lesson in the difference between management and leadership.

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