“Leadership or Management”

“Leadership or Management”
cji
2/23/09

Some can be very good leaders but so good as a manager – while others can manage but not lead. What’s the difference and what are the respective roles of each? Also can one both lead and manage equally well or poorly? For one to achieve an MBA one has to acknowledge that management is more important than leadership in business. Yet is this true?

Over the years we’ve had many leaders with no management skills at all and as a result they both recognized it and accept it as a fact! What would define the role of a good leader? Most simply it’s the ability to lead others in a time of great adversity forward towards the goal or objective without faltering. Had all factors been equal and one was to remove Wellington from the Battle of Waterloo – somewhere someone might still be fighting a Napoleon the 17th. But Wellington was there and did lead and Napoleon was defeated. Had anyone but Sir Winston Churchill been PM of Great Britain during WWII would the British have withstood Hitler? He was there and the British did withstand the assault by Germany.

The above two examples are good fodder for showing a difference between leadership and management. Management got England into WWII – and leadership got it out and mostly intact. After WWII management again took over and we’ve seen the repeated results of what’s happened since. Let’s understand Eisenhower was a great manager – and became a hero to many – even President of the US – however he knew his limitations and with General’s like Bradley, Hodge, Patten and many others he knew where the leadership on the battlefield lay.

A good manager can organize – draw up plans – be political between two sides of an organization – and see the organization as a whole and in its parts. All pen/ink and paper – he knows how it supposed to work and why – but also knows he needs others for the how it will work and why. A really good manager knows how to stay off stage and manage the operation – while letting others work within the operation. I.e. a hospital manager (administrator) is not a doctor but recruits doctors and nurses to operate the hospital – he/she insures that the right and best equipment is available and whatever is needed in the care of patients (and employees).

Whereas a manager is organizational – a leader is situational. A leader would wear out if on the constant stage of leadership in an active form therefore in situations the leader rises to the top and then returns to his/her role in the organization once more. A manager however is constantly going because it’s his/her role to keep the show going. Washington would be a good example of a leader in this instance – when he was needed by his nation he was there – when not he was back at home. However the John Adams and others were still at work in the kitchen for the duration of their lives.

When one goes home at night both roles mightily intermixed within a family – but seldom to the degree on the battlefields of the world. However equally if not more important! Management of a family and a home is intrinsic to the success of both – and leadership (the example) is also important – to the raising of healthy children and promoting a loving family relationship by all.

A leader sees solutions and proceeds – a manager sees problems – seeks assistance to come up with the correct solutions and proceeds. Managers have limited power to act or control – while leaders take or are given power to act and control.

When a ship sets sail from dock – when the last line is released from the mooring – the Captain has absolute power and control – no longer is management involved. A Captain is both given and takes this power and control – it’s a leadership requirement. However here’s the catch – the power is his/hers whether qualified or not – whether a good leader or not! Some Captains have the total respect of their officers and crews – having both been there and done that with him/her before. They’ve weather the storm and know how to weather the next storm as well. Some Captains have the total abhorrence of their officers and crew – ruling over them almost maliciously. This has been found throughout history – written about in novels and non-fiction. The best found lore of WWII abounds in the ranks of the submariner Captains.

Now and again a Captain is placed on a ship and will run it as a manager knowing no other way. Without storms or combat the ships make their journey from port to port without incident. And this is almost the norm in peacetime – the managers run the whole show all of the time – to the point that leaders and leadership are forgotten all about and found unnecessary. The role of the manager goes outside of its organizational limitations and assumes responsibility it has not earned. The schools are good at teaching this to their students in a relatively safe environment.

The equation is money equals power and power equals leadership – etc. This is a false equation but while it’s used and believed many good leaders are buried as if at sea never again to be seen or heard from. The current evidence within the economy of the US is an excellent example of this taking place. We’ve incompetence by those making the laws – those enforcing the laws and those taking advantage of the loop holes in the laws. Laws passed to make the playing field level for those without income – without work – without any viable means of support (with the sole exception of the government) given homes and mortgages which no one expected them ever to pay. Thus forcing the banks and mortgage companies to lend the money (or else). The same government now blames someone else for these horrible situations were in – and never themselves! This is management gone berserk without any consideration for those willing to work and pay their own – instead making those who work not only pay their own way – but everyone else’s as well.

The leadership of the nation was burned at the stake and still is by the media and those who scream ‘it’s not our fault!” No one is willing to take up the lead and get things back on track – and those who’ve claimed this right are only digging the problem deeper. Management as a role and unity has lost sight of their role in keeping the show going and leadership is nowhere to be found having been burned in the witch hunts of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and the first part of this century.

The silence of the media/press to the voices of truth has by apathy removed them from the stage. The political revolution of total government has removed the need for leadership of any kind – and for the most part management as well. Doing what feels good for the moment seems to be the plan of action found in Washington and campuses of the nation. This is neither an acceptable definition of management or leadership – but more of that of a fool!

Yet when a society chooses to change the definition of words and roles – it messes with the very fabric of the heart and soul of its nation!

A manager would and could say, “Here’s the problem – here’s some possible solutions – which works best for the whole?” He/she would then weigh the various options – making sure the system can withstand the solutions suggested – and then takes the solutions to higher management for approval.

A leader says, “Is what I’m doing re-teachable and is it what I would want others to do?” And with understanding – says, “Follow me, here’s what we’re going to do and how!”

Again to repeat a manager’s role is organizational – and a leader is situational. A manger would fit out the ship and crew – picking the best possible captain for the ship and let it sail! The captain would then utilize the ship and crew for the best possible results – of both situation and crew while sailing!


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