Leadership Vs. Management

At first, one might agree that leadership and management go hand in hand and have about the same meaning when actually, they are similar, but have different meanings. A good differentiation is that leadership has followers and managers have subordinates. Management is concerned with organization and planning that is based on immediate results, whereas, leadership is based on guiding a follower to a specific goal. Many philosophers also define leadership as a process. The fact is, no matter how you chose to define the two, after you distinguish the difference between them you will become a better leader and manager.

I witnessed a true example of leadership when I volunteered for a non profit organization in my home town. The organizations goal was to develop a community center for their very small town. The "leader" of the group was self-confident, sociable, and very determined to see her organization prevail. She wasn't getting a lot of support from the community because her goal seemed too far fetched. She was determined to succeed and was sure if she could put in the hard work, her organization would sail. After a year of very hard work and let downs, she was finally able to reach her goal.

This is an example of leadership and management. The organization had a manager who had to organize and make plans based on immediate events, however, their drive and determination inspired others or "followers" to reach out to the children and develop similar organizations. So, can you be a leader and a manager? Yes! The skills to be a leader or a manager are not exclusive.