Leadership Is Vision. Management Is Execution. Are You Doing Both?
About the Author
Nick Herinckx is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Oxygen, a manager development academy helping high-growth companies close the execution gap. A former fast-scaling CEO and longtime executive coach, Nick has helped hundreds of leaders build stronger, more effective teams. Follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickherinckx/
Key takeways from this article:
Leadership is about direction; management is about execution. Most companies invest in one but not the other.
The “execution gap” stems from untrained managers—not from bad strategy.
Strong manager development closes this gap and frees leadership to focus on long-term growth.
Read the full article:
Leadership Is Vision. Management Is Execution. Are You Doing Both?
When companies stall, they usually don’t stall because the vision isn’t clear. They stall because execution can’t keep up.
As a coach to high-growth founders and former CEO of a fast-scaling company, I’ve seen this pattern play out across industries, business models, and team sizes. There’s no shortage of ideas. There’s no shortage of ambition. What’s missing—almost always—is the ability to consistently execute.
That’s because leadership and management are not the same thing. And too many companies are investing in one while ignoring the other.
The Difference Between Leadership and Management
Let’s break this down simply:
Leadership is about direction.
It’s setting the vision. Defining the strategy. Inspiring people to want to move toward something bigger.Management is about execution.
It’s making sure that vision becomes reality—through systems, accountability, prioritization, and team coordination.
Both are essential. But they’re not interchangeable.
When I talk to founders or senior execs, I often ask: Do your managers know how to turn your vision into results?
And the answer, too often, is not really.
Because we promote great individual contributors, give them a new title, maybe a team… and then expect them to just figure it out. That’s what I call sink-or-swim management—and it’s costing companies more than they realize.
Why Execution Is So Hard Right Now
Modern businesses are operating in high-stakes, high-speed environments. Everyone’s juggling competing priorities. Talent expectations have changed. Remote and hybrid work adds complexity. And the margin for error is slim.
In that context, execution is harder than ever.
It’s not enough to tell your team what to aim for. You need managers who know how to:
Translate goals into weekly and daily priorities
Align team members on expectations
Give consistent feedback
Hold people accountable
Identify roadblocks early
Create clarity in the chaos
But here’s the reality: Most managers have never been taught how to do this. And no, watching how their own manager operated doesn’t count as training.
The Execution Gap Is a Management Gap
When execution starts to falter—missed deadlines, inconsistent performance, low engagement—the instinct is to add more oversight. More check-ins. More reporting. More pressure.
But that’s not a sustainable solution. Because the root issue isn’t laziness or lack of care. The issue is usually manager capability.
If your managers don’t have the tools to lead, then your strategy—no matter how smart—will always underperform.
We call this the execution gap, and it’s the silent killer of growth.
It shows up as:
Fire drills and reactive problem-solving
Top performers burning out or leaving
Strategic plans that never quite come to life
Leadership teams stuck in the weeds
And it gets worse as you grow. Because what worked when you had 10 or 20 people doesn’t work when you have 50, 100, or 500. Scale doesn’t just mean more people—it means more complexity. More communication handoffs. More need for consistency.
That’s why manager development isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a business imperative.
Why Manager Training Matters More Than Ever
Let’s say you have 10 managers, each leading 6–8 people. That’s more than half your company influenced by how those 10 people lead.
Now imagine what happens if even half of those managers don’t know how to manage performance. Don’t know how to coach. Don’t know how to align their team’s work to company priorities. You’re not just leaving opportunity on the table—you’re losing velocity.
Strong managers are force multipliers. Weak managers are friction points.
So if you're serious about growth, you can't just invest in leadership at the top. You need to build management muscle throughout the org.
That’s exactly why we built Oxygen.
At Oxygen, We Help Close the Execution Gap
Oxygen isn’t just another training company. We’re a Management Development Academy purpose-built for modern, high-growth teams.
We focus on helping your high-potential managers become high-impact operators—people who know how to lead teams, drive outcomes, and free senior leaders to focus on the future.
Here’s What Makes Oxygen Different:
Cohort-Based Learning: Managers don’t learn in isolation. Our programs bring together peers from different companies to build skills, solve real challenges, and grow their network.
Real-Time Application: We don’t believe in passive learning. Every session includes hands-on tools, roleplays, and action plans. Managers leave with new behaviors, not just new ideas.
Expert Facilitation: Our instructors aren’t just coaches—they’ve led teams and built companies. They know what it takes to operate effectively in high-pressure environments.
Measurable Outcomes: We track progress across engagement, confidence, and performance. And we help you connect training to tangible business results.
Our flagship program—Management Essentials—has helped hundreds of managers across industries build the skills they need to execute better, lead stronger, and scale faster.
What Great Execution Looks Like
When companies close the execution gap, everything changes.
Strategy moves from theory to action
Teams know exactly what success looks like
Leaders can delegate confidently
Managers become talent magnets
Burnout goes down, results go up
What we hear from CEOs again and again: ‘I’m no longer solving my managers’ problems—I’m focused on growth.’”
That’s the goal.
Not just better management for management’s sake. But better management in service of real business outcomes: clarity, consistency, and the ability to scale without chaos.
Are You Doing Both?
So here’s the question again: Are you doing both?
Are you investing in the leadership vision and the management execution?
Are you building a future-proof company where strategic clarity meets operational excellence?
If not, it’s time to make a change.
At Oxygen, we believe in giving managers the structure, skills, and support they need to lead well. Because when they do, execution becomes your competitive advantage.
Let’s stop expecting managers to sink or swim—and give them the playbook they need to succeed.
