In last week’s post, I tackled the question of whether leadership can be learned (Yes) and I provided five critical skills and practices to cultivate to help build real leadership capacity. I noted that learning to lead is as much about learning to connect with and be in relationship with people as it is about learning technical “how-tos.” This fact points to the distinction between leading and managing.
One of my favorite quotes about leading versus managing comes from Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
As you read the following list of distinctions, ask yourself if you are a leader or a manager:
Most of us find that our day-to-day work requires the skills and activities of both leadership and management at different times. So why do we bother to draw distinctions? The distinctions are important because while both roles are necessary, many of us tend to spend too much time trying to manage. Spending more time focused on leading would allow us to achieve greater results and feel greater satisfaction from our efforts.
Leading is future and people oriented. It is creative rather than reactive. Most of us find that the more time we spend leading, the less time we need to spend managing. How satisfying would that be?
Credits:
This entry was posted in Leadership Development. You may access the original article at http://www.peelerassociates.com/blog/leading-versus-managing-eight-key-differences/