Management vs. Leadership

An excerpt of the Monday Morning Memo for 3-9-09 by Roy H. Williams

Maybe I’m splitting semantic hairs, but businesspeople who say “leadership” usually mean, “being a good manager.”

But leadership and management, in my experience, are virtually opposite skill sets.

Management requires wisdom, patience and strength. Basically, it’s parenting, bringing forward the best of the past, enforcing the status quo.

Leadership requires independence, audacity and courage. It’s inherently defiant, questioning the past, challenging the status quo.

True leaders require no authority. They think their own thoughts, make their own decisions, carry out their own plans. They say, “This is what I’ve decided to do.”

And then they do it. Others see them doing it and decide to follow.

Leaders lead from the front.
Managers manage from behind.

Alexander the Great was always the first over the wall of an enemy city. Whether his men followed him was up to them. Alexander was a true leader. “I’m going in, boys!”

Read the full memo.