A truth many corporations have yet to fully grasp is the essential difference between leadership and management. Great managers are not always great leaders. Great leaders are not always great managers. The difference is the key.
To put it simply, management, to be sure, is an essential skill. It’s about organizing tasks, tracking activities, coordinating events, and reaching quotas… In other words, it’s a task thing.
But tasks don’t get done on their own, they get done through people. If tasks aren’t getting done to one’s level of satisfaction, then there is a core disconnect between the task at hand and the people commissioned with accomplishing that task. You don’t manage people. You lead people. So stop managing and start leading.
Leadership is all too often perceived as authority: I say it, you do it, that’s that. But that’s not leadership, that’s dictatorship. Leadership lives in that abstract space between what you are trying to accomplish and the people who will get it done.Leadership is about making that connection between the goals and why your team would want to fulfill them. Leadership is about inspiring action and repeated encouragement, because will-power and energy fades, and no one wants to feel like someone else’s tool.
In sales they like to say “we buy from those we know, like and trust.” The same can be said for leadership. People want to be led by those they know, like and trust. Creating that and strong leadership will make management a breeze.
It’s a people thing. Are you leading?
