I have done both, honestly with varying degrees of success. I learned to manage first, as a junior enlisted, then transitioned toward leadership while maintaining managerial responsibilities. Looking back, I also feel that true "leadership" is often stifled in a great many military organizations when considering the innovation and origination ideals. Far too frequently the organizations resist change and innovation in favor of "tradition" and "proven results". Thusly, there are people in the military who become convinced they are "leaders" when truly they simply degrade the leadership value of others. For myself, I strugged greatly against that, and largely failed. I suppose there was an opportunity to make a greater change in fostering the alteration of the organization toward a greater leadership potential, but in the moment I could not see that.
