Leading or Managing?

The primary difference is that managing involves coping with complexity; leading, coping with change.

Are leadership skills the same skills effective managers use? Yes, to a degree. Managing and leading are complementary and often overlapping activities. The primary difference is that managing involves coping with complexity; leading, coping with change. At the same time, managing requires leadership skills, and leading requires management skills.

Management skills will always be essential, but in responding and adapting to the changing socioeconomic realities of today's market's, managers, even middle managers, are increasingly be called upon to be leaders as well.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Planning and budgeting Setting a direction
Organizing and staffing Aligning people to a vision
Controlling and problem solving Motivating and inspiring


ACTION POINT: No matter what the current economic, political, and social realities may be, the challenge for leaders today is to define their special goals or vision, to acquire as many management and leadership skills as possible, and finally, to know when to sue them to influence others to reach those goals.