We Cannot Choose Between Management and Leadership
I subscribe to a number of services that look for pithy quotes from Big Names, authors, and other people who are looking for publicity. I saw one about moving from manager to leader.
I subscribe to a number of services that look for pithy quotes from Big Names, authors, and other people who are looking for publicity. I saw one about moving from manager to leader.
Ok, so these are writers or reporters, and they may not know. Choosing to be a manager without being a leader is like choosing to drive across the country without a map. Choosing to be a leader without having management skills is like choosing to be a fish without gills. You have to know where you’re going, and you have to know how to breathe in your environment.
Managers set the strategy and the vision, so everyone knows what is going on and can work on the most important work. Managers create the environment so that the people all over the organization can succeed, including the managers. They are not the only people who do this, but they are the leaders who must do this. If managers do these things in a command-and-control way, they might succeed. If they choose servant leadership, they are more likely to be successful.
Managers must be leaders. We cannot choose between management and leadership. We must have both.
User Comments
You mention that one cannot do without the other and vice versa and they they should go together. Unfortunately though, many times skills are not developed in one or the other, and those skills need to be nurtured and taught. I think that usually managers learn leadership skills over time, and some can become leaders, but others stay as managers because they don't have innate leadership skills. Perhaps leadership per say, can be taught, but how would teach it? What would the syllabus be? It's kind of like classes in entrepreneurship trying to teach people to be entrepreneurs, which is very difficult.
Johanna, I could not agree with you more. Too often individuals have "vision" without any idea of how to achieve it. Others march down the road blindly without a clue as to where they are going. Without a combination of both, leaders are less than effective and often counterproductive. Vision + Execution = Success
HI Mike, yes, managers need to know where they are going and how to achieve success. That is why they need to understand the dynamics of what they manage. They also need to be able to influence their peers and manage up.
Management is more difficult than it looks!