Leadership Skills and Management Skills

Leadership Skills versus Management Skills

Are leadership skills different to management skills?  Indeed, is leadership different from management?  And is it true that you’re either a leader or a manager?  This short article offers my view on these questions.

What is Leadership?

First, we need to define leadership.  Here’s my definition:

“Leadership is a process that involves setting a purpose and direction which inspires people to combine and work towards willingly; paying attention to the means, pace and quality of progress towards the aim; and upholding group unity and individual effectiveness throughout.”

As the words in quotes highlight, leadership has four dimensions.  It starts with setting a purpose, vision and goals we care about – that motivate or even inspire us.  It’s also about results, progress and the practical management of the task – planning, finding resources, solving problems and following up.  And it includes people handling – that is, paying attention to individual effectiveness and building and upholding group unity.  

Now some authors define leadership more narrowly, putting the emphasis on vision and the art of inspiring others to greater heights.  For example, John Kotter, a professor at Harvard Business School, sums it up like this: “Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles.”  

Why this more limited view?  Perhaps because in the last twenty years there has been much debate on the contrast between leadership skills and management skills.  This led some authors to stress the points of distinction – with vision and inspiration being key ones.  But I feel some imbalance has crept in.  

Leadership and Management

There is a distinction between leadership and management.  Leadership skills centre more on  change, inspiration, setting the purpose and direction, and building the enthusiasm, unity and staying power for the journey ahead.  Management skills, on the other hand, are less about change, more about stability and making the best use of resources to get things done – good administration, essentially.  

But here’s the key point: leadership and management may be different, but they’re not separate.  And they are not necessarily done by different people.  It’s not a case of, “You are either a manager or a leader.”  Leadership and management skills overlap.  Frankly, I find it hard to imagine a good leader who’s not also a capable administrator.  Admittedly, I also find it hard to imagine a good leader who wanted to be only an administrator because of their natural drive for change – but that’s only a matter of emphasis, not of outright separation.

My point is that in striving to highlight differences between leadership and management, some authors have unwittingly separated the two and there lies the mistake.  They have a different emphasis, but they complement each other.  We need both.

So yes, the inspirational side of leadership must be present.  You do need a purpose, a vision, that excites – or at least motivates – everyone.  But it won’t be effective if no one has the leadership skill to translate the vision into reality or respond to the surprises and failures along the way.  And it won’t be enough if no one is attending to team atmosphere and maintaining individuals’ confidence and enthusiasm.  So, for me, effective leadership skills include the management and two people dimensions alongside the inspirational aspect.  Otherwise, it won’t be practical leadership.

You can read more about leadership skills in the book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, by James Scouller.