Leadership Or Management

I put this as a comment on a blog that asked if commanding was a management function or a quality of leadership.

I realize I rewrote their question in a way the discloses my opinion. Here then was my comment:

I would put commands as an administrative function - management.

A real leader seldom commands, except at highly charged moments where concise direction is immediately needed.

One reason is a real leader has developed his team to make them leaders also.

To me a manager is focused on performance and controls, a leader is focused on people and goals.

If you are more concerned with the efficiency of the operation than the direction of your team - you are a manager.

If you are primarily concerned with the direction the team is moving - you may be a leader.

A manager is more likely to exist in a bureaucratic organizational structure, a leader in an entrepreneurial one.

Allan

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