Andy Raynor - Beyond the Brief
Andy Raynor's blog
Leadership vs. Management
Trying to figure out how to circle my birthday on this....
There are six times as many results on Google for “management” as there are “leadership”. Six times. There’s a basic problem here, and that is in definitions. Management and leadership are often taken as one and the same.
But they couldn’t be more different.
I don’t want to invent another approach to either, or get academic about this. Because the difference between leadership and management is so basic, so fundamental, that it's often overlooked.
It’s as simple as this: leadership is time-travel.
Management is about now. Leadership is about the future. Management is about getting the best from where you are. Leadership is more about where you want to be.
That’s why, so often, leaders are criticised for overlooking current achievements. For them, today has gone, why celebrate it? What's next?
Leadership needs the counterbalance of management to truly succeed in the long term.But it is leadership that gives the business its vision of the future.
You may think this is simplistic. I think simple is best. You will be tested as a leader so test yourself now.
Are you in today or tomorrow?
Tell me what you think at andy@andypraynor.com
And see what's been said before by looking in the archive:
© Andy Raynor 2013