“Efficiency tends to deal with things. Effectiveness tends to deal with people. We manage things; we lead people.”
-Grace Hopper
Leadership isn’t…
…a rare skill
…an inheritance
…always charismatic
…only at the top
…controlling, directing and prodding
What leadership is:
- A clear and compelling vision
- The power to translate that vision into reality
- The ability to rally people behind that vision
The difference between management and leadership is that while management organizes work, work product and the people who produce, a necessary skill indeed, leadership has a very different effect. When people think of leadership they think of those qualities that motivate, influence, inspire and guide.
Even if are lucky to have the training and reinforcement for managing results and others, rarely do we get a chance to learn and practice leadership skills. Why?
High Performance Advocates believes it is because a higher value is placed on preserving the status quo than initiating change; on solving problems than developing people; on meeting short term results than spending time developing long term strategy; on giving directives rather than building commitment.
Well, guess what…these days we need both management and leadership skills. And we need clarification of the difference between these two very different jobs . Additionally, if we want to lead, we need to make a shift from thinking that managing is leading and that leading is management.
