Management vs Leadership

Hi all,

In my quest to keep improving myself and developing my skill set, I have been thinking more about management vs leadership.

Some people may feel these are synonymous, but I would venture that they are very different. I feel you can be a leader without actually being a management position, and feel you can be in a management position, but not actually be a leader.

Many organizations have may have a leadership problem disguised as a management problem. As a generalization, a true leader doesn’t have to demand something gets done in a prescribed time frame – instead, they simply have to ask someone to do something and help the other person understand the importance, if further communication is even warranted. The backbone of this is a manager valuing the employee, and helping them understand their role is critical to the overall success – treating people right, listening to their thoughts/suggestions, and investing time in their success creates a much better leader than someone who just bosses people around.

Anyway, I am deliberately working to invest more time in people when I can – though there is always lots to do, and it is sometimes easier to put your head down and plow through, the investment in people will go a long way toward being a better leader and not simply a manager.

Not sure if this is helpful, but thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Take care,

Brian