Don’t we need leaders rather than managers? It is a question that has been posed for years. I’ve been asked this question hundreds of times. It’s an understandable question, but the wrong one.
Prior to 1977, no one would have asked this question until Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik published the article "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?" The idea was popularized in 1985 by Warren Bennis in his book Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge, who later summarized the difference as "Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing."
The distinction was important but note the timeline of this idea emerging. Prior to the mid 1970’s the world was less complex, and management skills were/are critical when the knowns are known, and past experience and best practices reign supreme.
But that isn’t the world we live in today, at least not most of the time.
Google leadership versus management and you'll get hundreds of takes on this point, all coming from the sources I suggest. Most of these articles are incomplete, bordering on flat-out wrong.
Here’s a summary of the dichotomy: manager = bad; leader = good. (Which by the way, isn’t what Zaleznik and Bennis were saying, but what the debate has devolved to.)
Now let me give you my equally high-level rebuttal: We manage things and lead people.
And here's my definition of leadership: reaching valuable outcomes with others. Notice that both ideas in my “lead versus manage” comparison are there.
Outputs are things; others are people. Both are a part of this zeitgeist that is leadership. There isn't a leadership vs management debate because both sets of skills and behaviors are part of the same large complex role.
When we separate things that shouldn’t be separated, we ask people to make a false choice and at the same time create stereotypes and identities (I’m a leader, you are a manager”) that aren’t helpful either.
Here’s an example of the false choices people propose when they extend the leadership vs management debate:
Leadership | Management |
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While you could argue that in some cases the leadership column is more valuable than the management column, the fact is that in each of these pairs, you need both things.
- The most effective leaders create vision and execute the plan.
- Provide inspiration and supervision.
- Model influence and use authority when appropriate.
- Provide or help the team create strategy and manage the process.
I could go on but it isn't necessary.
The solution to burying this debate is to realize that it isn't a debate at all. It's not leadership versus management.
Great leaders both lead and manage. Both skill sets and focuses are important, both are needed, and that’s why the debate needs to be buried today.
If you are a leader and you want to respond better to the uncertainty you face, join me June 23rd at Noon ET for a strategy session titled Helping Leaders Navigate Uncertainty in a Changing World. We’ll take about leadership vs management, and much more!
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