Leadership Vs Management
leadership vs management
Leadership and management are both vital, but they seek to do different things. Every organization structures itself to accomplish its goals in a way that is in tune with or responsive to its environment. Once the efficiency of the organization is established, people go about simply maintaining the system, assuming that the environment will stay the same. Management is the main focus because it keeps the organization going well with little change. But the thing is: the environment for any organization is always changing. There are always shifts in consumer tastes, social attitudes, society’s culture, technology, and so on. The world is not static as we assume. Organizations tend not to spot these changes quickly, often because of a "management orientation" which is focused more on "looking in" instead of "looking out". Over time, the organization can become less and less in tune with or responsive to its environment, creating more and more management problems. Times like this require organizations to think more in terms of leadership. Leaders ask questions like, "What is really going on here? How do we accomplish our goals in these new times? What will prompt people to think that what we do is important?" Leaders seek to bring their organization more in line with the realities of their environment, which often necessitates changing the very structures, resources and relationships of their organization which they have worked so long and so hard to manage. And yet, as they do, leaders can bring renewed liveliness to their people. “Here is a simple, familiar example. In the 50’s and 60’s auto makers built large heavy cars with huge, gas guzzling engines because that was what the public wanted. The oil crisis of the early 70’s, however, shifted consumer attitudes towards lighter cars with smaller, more fuel efficient engines. The North American "Big Three" were slow to pick up on the new consumer attitudes. Yet, waiting in the wings...
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