Management or Leadership 2

[Blackcountryman]

Whats is the difference between Management and Leadership & do we need both?

I think they are very different management is great at handling day to day problems. Things like budgets, project schedules etc when things are running on the rails.

When things go seriously wrong, as in the south of the USA at present, management is of little use. It is the people who can provide the Leadership that make things happen.

You can teach managment but leaders are born - discuss.

 

[sms]

Leadership can be taught as well....at least according to the multimillion dollar per year leadership training industry.

Oh, and the military teaches leadership as well.....

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

 

[TheTick]

Things are managed. People are lead.

My main complaint about leadership & management: cheerleading <> leadership!

 

[Slugger926]

Athletics develops leaders.

The best leaders were competitive in athletics and books when growing up.

 

[wes616]

At a previous place that I worked, one of the engineers was an exceptional leader. Much different than the management, who had a very tearse relationship with him. He was just another "grunt" like me, but whenever a project got behind, he could be counted on to step in and motivate the team to move on the project. Of course, this generally upset the "project manager." Especially when the company president would give this person responsibilites regarding "leading teams" but would leave the nitty gritty operations management to the un-inspiring manager (who was very good at getting things done within the corporate bureacuracy).

After the company president left, he took the "leader" with him. About 4 months after that our division was basically defunct.

A couple of important things to note here:

1. Often it is said that a project failed due to lack of "leadership." Rarely is it said that it is due to lack of "management." (it does happen occasionally)

2. Things often fail, however, due to to many leaders put on a project.

moral: leaders and managers are important, but great leaders seem to be harder to find than good manager; but, mabye that is a good thing.

Wes C.

 

[whyun]

The West Point as well as many ROTC programs provide leadership training. Though there are exceptions, many come out of the program as better "leaders" than they were.

Hooah!

 

[HVAC68]

Quote

"Things often fail, however, due to to many leaders put on a project."

Unquote.

If there are too many leaders in a project, then you need a big leader to the lead the leaders !!!


HVAC68

 

[bandraoi]

Leadership is about getting people to work together as a team, work harder and often to do things they don't want to. It's also about being able to persuade people to see things differently and to go with change instead of fighting it.
It's about getting people to go to hell, in such a way that they enjoy the experience.

 

[GregLocock]

"Athletics develops leaders.

The best leaders were competitive in athletics and books when growing up."

Are you serious? How can you be competitive in books?



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[epoisses]

Some time ago an important customer came to visit us. The engineer happened to be sick that day. The guest was at the reception waiting to see what would happen. Our general manager noticed, realised the problem, did not hesitate a second but welcomed the guy with all due respect and hospitality and showed him around for at least an hour until somebody was available who could "really" take care of the man. The guy was very honoured and had not even noticed he had been put on "hold".

That is what I call leadership. (Somebody else might say the manager should have been doing "management things" (Dilbert) instead of wasting an hour of his precious time.)

 

[TheTick]

The best leaders emerging from my high school were involved in forensics, debate, business (FBLA, JA), and community service. Athletics was incidental.

 

[Slugger926]

Greg -

Haven't you heard of Mathcounts, International Land Pasture and Range Judging, or even spelling bee's.

I was lucky, I went to a small school and they taught us to compete in everything. We beat up on the big schools annually in baseball, mathcounts, and won the International Land Pasture and Range judging contest several times. Those that learned to be successful in those avenues are todays leaders in business. There are other forms of competition as well that we didn't have access to.

 

[Blackcountryman]

Slugger

Can you tell a poor Brit what a "International Land Pasture and Range judging contest" is.

 

[wes616]

The best leaders emerging from my high school were involved in forensics, debate, business (FBLA, JA), and community service.

Dont forget FFA, and boy/grilscouts...

Wes C.

 

[greenone]

"...they taught us to compete in everything. We beat up on the big schools annually..."

Why is it always about competing and winning? Why not develop your leadership skills by learning to bring people together and developing consensus?

 

[TheTick]

Competition, like war, can bring out the best and worst in human nature.

To compete and win as a team, a team must have competent leadership. A mob of talented but unorganized players won't cut it.

On an individual basis, driving to win ideally drives one to dig deep into his self and bring out his absolute best ("bring it"). This is much more than flogging oneself physically. It is learning what one is capable of, and accepting nothing short of one's own best from oneself.

Personally, I can say that having competed and won, tried by fire, has given me the confidence to do more.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Leaders are at the front of an army.

Managers are at the back.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[GregLocock]

Oh go on, please explain how winning a spelling bee competition makes you a better leader, as opposed to say running a week long hiking expedition.




Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[wes616]

explain how winning a spelling bee competition makes you a better leader

Greg,

I think we've lost the point... it's not leadership we are now talking about, it's competition...

Spelling bee's can make us more competetive. Which is the OPPOSITE of leadership IMHO. Leadership is the art of bringing people together for a common purpose. Competition is the art of tearing them apart: Divide and Conquer.

TEAM Athletics, even though it is competition, is about bringing people together for a common purpose... that being winning the game. Competition for competition's sake is an individual sport...

Individual - the opposite of Team... as in THERE IS NO "I" IN "TEAM".... does nothing to develop leadership. Many many athletics demonstrate this... Wrestling, Tennis, Golf...

Anyway, enough out of me... it's dinner time....

Wes C.

 

[bandraoi]

It strikes me that what's really missing with Hurricane Katrina is both management and leadership.

The leaders said to evacuate the city but a lack of management meant that there was no government effort to evacuate those without their own transportation. To me that's incredible.

A good leader at that point might have made an appeal to the ground troops - the people with their own cars - to make sure they travelled only with a full car.

The rescue operation seems to have been hampered so far by a shocking lack of management or leadership. The simple necessary decisions were not made or carried out.