Leadership vs Management

Maybe it’s time to take a look at the titles we give people in their jobs. 

Too often I see the word ‘Manager’ as part of someone’s title in the corporate world. I cannot speak for the other services but in the Navy I do not recall seeing the word ‘Manager’ as part of anyone’s title.

So why does it matter? I believe it is misleading to call a person a manager when their job is to lead other people. 

There is a difference between leadership and management.

To me, my simple definition of leadership is the ability to get a diverse group of people to work together to achieve a common goal. 

This can apply to any aspect of your life but for this discussion I am speaking of the business world.

On the other hand, my simple definition of management is the organization and coordination of the activities in order to achieve defined goals and objectives.

We lead people and we manage processes. 

I am to lead the people that work for me. My job is to get them to work together to achieve whatever our goals are. 

The processes activities that go into achieving those goals are managed. 

The problem I see is that too many people placed in positions of leadership are called ‘Managers’ and not a title that is indicative of what they are really there to do – lead people. 

Compound that with the lack of leadership training that is offered by the vast majority of companies out there and the result is, way more often than not, that we have someone in a role of responsibility that tries to manage the people they are supposed to lead.

Since I am unlikely to create the swell needed to effect the titles we use as for our people, perhaps I can challenge you to invest in something more important for your people and your businesses – leadership training and mentoring. 

I’ve seen too many people promoted to a ‘management’ role and very seldom, in my corporate experience, given the tools (leadership training and mentoring) to lead their people. 

And without those tools, the people you entrust to lead a part of your organization are potentially being set up for failure. It’s not that they are not smart or good at their job, but without being taught any differently most will try to manage what they should be leading.

The organizations I saw as most effective were the ones where an investment was made to train its leaders properly and, as result, those people knew the difference between leadership and management.

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