Where Management and Leadership Meet

Since I’ve been writing this new book on leadership, I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences and similarities between managing people and being a leader.  In some ways, I think they’re very distinct: I’ve know people who are excellent leaders and poor managers, and vice versa.  I think of people management as a craft. That’s how I wrote about it in Growing Great Employees, and that’s one reason it was so easy to use a gardening metaphor throughout the book; gardening is a craft, too.

Leading is more about who you are; your personal characteristics and how those show up day-to-day.  I’ve said that people look to see certain attributes in someone before they will fully commit to that person as a leader, and I believe that’s true.  You can definitely build the skills and awareness needed to become a better leader, one that people will follow – but it’s more an internal growth process than the development of a craft.  Becoming a leader requires consistent self-reflection, and a willingness to think and then behave differently.

There are at least three points of overlap, though.  Both managing people and becoming a good leader require 1) listening well, 2) being curious, and 3) managing your self-talk.

I’ve spoken about and taught all three of these things for many years (therefore the links to other blog posts), but it’s getting even clearer to me as I move through life and deal with more and more people: these capabilities are foundational for anyone who wants to get results with and through other people.

Do you agree?  If so, what are you doing about it?