Author Alasdair White
Is there a difference between ‘management’ and ‘leadership’? Well, the answer is ‘yes’: you manage processes and you lead people.
A process involves inputs in the form of resources (money, people, materials, etc.), activities and manipulations, and it results in outputs. This needs to be managed, by a manager (although most management is actually supervisory as the manager him or herself is actually involved in the process) whose main responsibilities are … to ensure that resources are used correctly, to deliver the objectives (outputs) as well as the deliverables along the way, to ensure the task is completed, to advise more senior management when the outputs are ‘at risk’ and may not be delivered, and to manage those risks. Management is, therefore, tactical, motivational, organisational, ordered, planned, budgeted and consistent.
Leadership is, on the otherhand, about influencing others to undertake actions which, in the absence of the leader, they may not undertake on their own. In fact, anyone can be a leader. Leadership is, therefore, strategic, influential, visionary, transformational and inspirational.
So, management and leadership are not the same thing at all, but we may be called upon to deliver both management and leadership in our daily activities. Our success in each will be determined by how well we match the key management and leadership styles with the type of work being done and the development phase of the people involved. (For more on this, see the main website)
Posted in Performance Management