Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Leadership Versus Management

I recently read an article in the April edition of NZ Lawyer, entitled "Managing to lead" by James Holden.  He's CEO of Leadership Revolution Pty Ltd.  A fuller version of the article (Breeds Apart:  Leadership Versus Management) is available directly from their site.

In the corporate jungle there are two creatures at the top of the food chain. The Manager. And the Leader. Both are critical for business success...

...there is an undeniable connection between Leadership and culture that creates sustainable peak performance and long term profitability.

Basically, it states that any business needs both Managers and Leaders - and that currently Managers are dominating through corporate nurturing.  Leaders are required though to get the best performance from teams.  In the document, there is a small 5 question test that will indicate which direction you lean - makes for interesting reading.  I've found that Leadership is something that can never be delegated - some people just choose to stand up and deliver.

2 comments:

LaraCroft said...

Interesting. I think it's true to a certain extent. I always thought I was a manager, but I answered about 2 trues and 3 falses, or maybe the other way round.
Still, an interesting article. Thanks for enabling comments again. Hope you are having a nice evening.

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend Michal Gerber's E-myth book.

He posited that there are three personalities of interest: the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician.

The manager wants things to stay as they are: controlled and with good processes.

The entrepreneur is always forging ahead, trying to take the other two personalities along for the ride.

The technician just wants to do their job, and thinks the other two are getting in the way of getting the work done better.

What goes wrong when people start their own business is they are all three rolled into one. Worse, they are a technician who is trying to be entrepreneurial and doesn't have the manager's perspective.

In my last job, I was moving from the role of technician to manager. It's a frightening and difficult move to make and I am glad I am back as a technician :)