Age Old Question: Leadership vs. Management – What’s The Difference?
Doyle Slayton | Apr 25, 2008 | Comments 11
Leadership focuses more on the people side of the business, while management is more about systems and processes. I’ve seen strong leaders, who have little or no management skills, be very successful in positively influencing people, but they drop the ball all-day-long with the administrative side of the job. Conversely, I’ve seen strong managers, who are weak in leadership skills struggle to build culture and loyalty amongst their team.
Best Practice: Lead from the front of the room and manage behind close doors. The greatest “leaders” know how to do both… in synchronized balance!
How do you see it? How do you teach your people to develop the Leadership / Management Balance?
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Filed Under: Blog • Leadership • Reader Questions
Leadership is about creating clarity and removing ambiguity. Management is about setting expectations, clarifying, taking corrective action. Management is formal and comes with position or role, leadership is earned through personal or professional credibility and trust. You can be appointed a manager. You earn the opportunity to be a leader.
I think Drucker said it best… “Management is about doing things right. Leadership is about doing the right things”.
It is imperative for leaders to learn to strike the balance between managing processes and procedures and focusing on the development of culture, and creating a synergistic environment where employees can be productive. One done with out the other will lead to inefficiency.
It is true – the best leaders embody both traits. Personally, I was in the Army for 7 years and I believe the military develops this kind of leadership by forcing the leader to inspire often culturally diverse team members to simply pay attention to the same details and strive to achieve the same goals. Leadership 101.
You know, this is interesting because I personally have experienced both types of individuals. I think that the balance of both styles is the ideal, but unfortunately it is not the norm. I have been fortunate to have worked with someone who evenutually mentored me and is in large part responsible for my career growth and confidence. He lead his team by giving us good advice and direction. He then gave us the freedom to make choices and not run to him for every little thing. In fact, sometimes when we did come to him with an issue he would typically have us talk it out (out loud) and lots of times he didn’t do anything but listen to us think it through and then send us back to problem solve the situation etc. Having the ability to make your employees think and then make decisions without you builds strength and confidence. In the end, he was always there for us.
I’ve experienced the complete opposite of that where a manager hid from us and was afraid to make decisions.
Leaders sometimes build other leaders.
I flash back to an Internet article I read recently, entitled, The Principle of Principle, by George Grant, January 1st, 2003. He said:
[...] much of the current flood of seminars, books, tapes, courses, & programs on leadership focus on management techniques. We are obsessed, it seems, with mechanical, structural, & methodological tricks.
“[...] sane leadership–whether in business, in public affairs, or in private concerns–must begin not with techniques but with principles [...]“
That reminded me … In previous Profitable Venture Tactics eZines, I’ve written about techniques.
Today, I will talk about principles.
First, what do I mean by “principle?”
Well, principle is a basic truth, law, or assumption. It’s a rule or standard of behavior or action. A principle is your Guiding Star, your Golden Rule, your maxim or code of honor. A principle is your Bushido (traditional code of the Japanese samurai, stressing honor, self-discipline, & bravery, simple living).
So, a person of principle has stable confidence in his Guiding Star. A person of principle is committed to clearly articulated values that remain despite particulars, position, prestige, politics … or public polls.
Why do some “Leaders” have no principles?
You’ve seen the headlines about corrupt corporate & political “leaders,” not to mention all the fakes, fanatics, felons, fibbers, finks, forgers, frauds & phonys.
What ever happened to integrity, morality, ethics, honor, reliability, good faith, morals & honesty, quality, decency, principles, trustworthiness, merit, excellence, standards & dignity, purity, service, etiquette, dignity, honesty, esteem, protocol, respect, dependability, reverence, demeanor & honorableness?
Do these fakes, fanatics, felons, fibbers, finks, forgers, frauds & phonys deliberately make lying, cheating, & stealing their GOAL?
Or, do they think lying, cheating, & stealing is a “short cut” to achieving their goals?
Of course, lying, cheating, & stealing is not new…
In 1928, Justice Bandeis eloquently affirmed his condemnation of abuses practiced by Government officials. In the case of Olmstead vs. U.S. 277 US 438, 48 S.Ct. 564, 575; 72 L ED 944 (1928) he declared:
“Decency, security, & liberty alike demand that Government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the Citizen. In a Government of laws, existence of the Government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously.
“Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious.
“If the Government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the law the end justifies the means could bring a terrible retribution.
“Against that pernicious doctrine, this Court should resolutely set its face.” — Justice Bandeis
The Marine definition is “Leadership is to inspire Marines to exceptional achievement.”
My example is a supervisor will put a peg in a hole. A manager will put a square peg in a square hole. A leader will put a square peg in a square hole at the right ‘torque’ so that it won’t fall out and will be able to be pulled out when needed. And is covered and aligned with the other pegs.
The main ingredient in Leadership is integrity.
Leadership can be groomed by mentoring, training and STRESS. You cannot do that with integrity. STRESS will separate leaders from committee chairs. STRESS will determine if you have integrity.
That is what Mark hit on about the Army and the military training above.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Anyone facing entrenched or predatory competitors, short time frames, chaotic markets, and obstacles in every direction, has a simple choice: Learn to move fast, change on the fly, and inspire employees – or die. The Marines are here to help.”
Harper Collins
I hope this will help start some more blog’s on this subject.
Doyle:
Great topic. From a sales perspective, leadership is about focusing on prospect/customer issues and management is about implementing processes that solve those issues. Typically, management techniques have us believe that in B2B we must close above all else – closing is producer focused. Conversely, leadership tells us to solve a problem and build trust – self-explanatory. When a sales and marketing team are balanced, and management is focused on leading the team from the buyer’s perspective (Buyer’s Journey), prospects close themselves. Balance is the key to closing more sales.
This reminds me of the distinction between effectiveness (doing the right thing) and efficiency (doing a thing right). Applied here, good leaders are effective, and good managers are efficient.
This reminds me of the distinction between effectiveness (doing the right thing) and efficiency (doing a thing right). Applied here, good leaders are effective, and good managers are efficient.
In today’s business environment where teamwork is crucial, there can be no doubt that all employees must be able to be trusted by their managers, co-workers, and customers. For example, good leaders do not criticize their co-workers behind their backs, and they don’t take credit that belongs to everyone on the team. I think this we can say true leadership traits.
Hi Doyle,
This is probably the best and most succinct definition of the difference between leadership and management that I’ve seen. I like it even more than Drucker’s because it’s something that everyone can relate to. All managers/leaders know whether they are better at inspiring people or better at the mechanics of management e.g. filling out performance reviews. The only thing I would add is that the best leaders manage well too.
All the best!
Melissa Paulik