Leadership and ManagementWhat is leadership, and what is the difference between leadership and management? In a nutshell, the

difference is:

Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the

spearhead for that new direction

Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that

have already been established.

There is a lot of overlap between leadership and management. Often the two are part of the same role,

because many leadership or management roles involve a combination of both - i.e. there is a continual

adjustment of the direction (leadership) and controlling resources to pursue that direction

(management).

Personality style is important part of both. You may have a particular leadership style that you tend to

use. There are also different personality types in the group that you manage. You can explore both of

these by completing our leadership and personality test.

Leadership Test

Leadership development methods and tips

This leadership tips webpage is a general guide to modern ethical progressive leadership. See also the

leadership theories article for explanations and summaries of the main leadership theories.

Explaining and understanding the nature of good leadership is probably easier than practising it. Good

leadership requires deep human qualities, beyond conventional notions of authority.

In the modern age good leaders are an enabling force, helping people and organizations to perform and

develop, which implies that a sophisticated alignment be achieved - of people's needs, and the aims of

the organization.

The traditional concept of a leader being the directing chief at the top of a hierachy is nowadays a very

incomplete appreciation of what true leadership must be.

Effective leadership does not necessarily require great technical or intellectual capacity. These

attributes might help, but they are not pivotal.

Good leadership in the modern age more importantly requires attitudes and behaviours which

characterise and relate to humanity.

The concept of serving is fundamental to the leadership role. Good leadership involves serving the

organization or group and the people within it. Ineffective leaders tend to invert this principle and

consider merely that the leader must be served by the people. This faulty idea fosters the notion that

leadership as an opportunity to take: to acquire personal status, advantage, gain, etc., at the expense of

others, which is grossly wrong. Leadership is instead an opportunity to give; to serve the organization,

and crucially the people too. The modern notions of 'servant leader' and 'servant leadership' are

attributed to Robert K Greenleaf (in his 1970 essay The Servant as Leader) however the philosophy and

concept of leadership being a serving function rather than one that is served, is very old indeed and

found in ancient civilisations and religious writings.

Leadership is centrally concerned with people. Of course leadership involves decisions and actions

relating to all sorts of other things, but leadership is special compared to any other role because of

its unique responsibilty for people - i.e., the followers of the leader - in whatever context leadership is

seen to operate.

Many capabilities in life are a matter of acquiring skills and knowledge and then applying them in a

reliable way. Leadership is quite different. Good leadership demands emotional strengths and

behavioural characteristics which can draw deeply on a leader's mental and spiritual reserves.

The leadership role is an inevitable reflection of people's needs and challenges in modern life.

Leadership is therefore a profound concept, with increasingly complex implications, driven by an

increasingly complex and fast-changing world.

Leadership and management are commonly seen as the same thing, which they are not. Leadership is

also misunderstood to mean directing and instructing people and making important decisions on behalf

of an organization. Effective leadership is much more than these.

Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them, rather than the skills they

possess. Leadership is about behaviour first, skills second.

This is a simple way to see how leadership is different to management:

Management is mostly about processes.

Leadership is mostly about behaviour.

We could extend this to say:

Management relies heavily on tangible measurable capabilities such as effective planning; the

use of organizational systems; and the use of appropriate communications methods.

Leadership involves many management skills, but generally as a secondary or background

function of true leadership. Leadership instead relies most strongly on less tangible and less

measurable things like trust, inspiration, attitude, decision-making, and personal character.

These are not processes or skills or even necessarily the result of experience. They are facets of

humanity, and are enabled mainly by the leader's character and especially his/her emotional

reserves.

Another way to see leadership compared with management, is that leadership does not crucially depend

on the type of management methods and processes a leaders uses; leadership instead primarily depends

on the ways in which the leader uses management methods and processes.

Good leadership depends on attitudinal qualities, not management processes.

Humanity is a way to describe these qualities, because this reflects the leader's vital relationship with

people.

Qualities critical for a leader's relationship with his/her people are quite different to conventional skills

and processes:

examples of highly significant leadership qualities

integrity

honesty

humility

courage

commitment

sincerity

passion

confidence

positivity

wisdom

determination

compassion

sensitivity

People with these sort of behaviours and attitudes tend to attract followers. Followers are naturally

drawn to people who exhibit strength and can inspire belief in others. These qualities tend to produce a

charismatic effect. Charisma tends to result from effective leadership and the qualities which enable

effective leadership. Charisma is by itself no guarantee of effective leadership.

Some people are born more naturally to leadership than others. Most people don't seek to be a leader,

but many more people are able to lead, in one way or another and in one situation or another, than they

realize.

People who want to be a leader can develop leadership ability. Leadership is not the exclusive preserve

of the wealthy and educated.

Leadership is a matter of personal conviction and believing strongly in a cause or aim, whatever it is.

Leadership sometimes comes to people later in life, and this is no bad thing. Humanity tends to be

generational characteristic. There is no real obstacle to people who seek to become leaders if leadership

is approached with proper integrity. Anyone can be a leader if he/she is suitably driven to a particular

cause.

And many qualities of effective leadership, like confidence and charisma, continue to grow from

experience in the leadership role. Even initially surprised modest leaders can become great ones, and

sometimes the greatest ones.

Leadership can be performed with different styles. Some leaders have one style, which is right for

certain situations and wrong for others. Some leaders can adapt and use different leadership styles for

given situations.

Adaptability of style is an increasingly significant aspect of leadership, because the world is

increasingly complex and dynamic. Adaptability stems from objectivity, which in turn stems from

emotional security and emotional maturity. Again these strengths are not dependent on wealth or

education, or skills or processes.

Good leaders typically have a keen understanding of relationships within quite large and complex

systems and networks. This may be from an intuitive angle, or a technical/learned angle, or both.

A very useful way to explore this crucial aspect of leadership with respect to wider relationships and

systems is offered by the Psychological Contract and how that theory relates to organizations and

leadership.

People new to leadership (and supervision and management) often feel under pressure to lead in a

particularly dominant way. Sometimes this pressure on a new leader to impose their authority on the

team comes from above. Dominant leadership is rarely appropriate however, especially for mature

teams. Misreading this situation, and attempting to be overly dominant, can then cause problems for a

new leader. Resistance from the team becomes a problem, and a cycle of negative behaviours and

reducing performance begins. Much of leadership is counter-intuitive. Leadership is often more about

serving than leading. Besides which, individuals and teams tend not to resist or push against something

in which they have a strong involvement/ownership/sense of control. People tend to respond well to

thanks, encouragement, recognition, inclusiveness, etc. Tough, overly dominant leadership gives teams

a lot to push against and resist. It also prevents a sense of ownership and self-control among the people

being led. And it also inhibits the positive rewards and incentives (thanks, recognition, encouragement,

etc) vital for teams and individuals to cope with change, and to enjoy themselves. Leaders of course

need to be able to make tough decisions when required, but most importantly leaders should

concentrate on enabling the team to thrive, which is actually a 'serving' role, not the dominant 'leading'

role commonly associated with leadership.

Today ethical leadership is more important than ever. The world is more transparent and connected

than it has ever been. The actions and philosophies of organisations are scrutinised by the media and

the general public as never before. This coincides with massively increased awareness and interest

among people everywhere in corporate responsibility and the many related concepts, such as social and

community responsibility (see the ethical leadership and ethical organisations page). The modern leader

needs to understand and aspire to leading people and achieving greatness in all these areas.

Here is (was..) an Excellent 30 minute BBC Radio 4 Discussion about Modern Leadership - (first

broadcast 2 Sept 2006, part of the 'Sound Advice' series). Its mere existence is evidence of changed

attitudes to leadership. Such a programme would not have warranted BBC airtime a generation ago due

to lack of audience interest. Today there is huge awareness of, and interest in, more modern leadership

methods. The radio discussion highlighted the need for effective modern leaders to have emotional

strength and sensitivity, far beyond traditional ideas of more limited autocratic leadership styles. I'm

sorry (if still) this linked item is unavailable from the BBC website, especially if the recording is lost

forever in the BBC's archives. If you know a suitably influential executive at the Beeb who can liberate

it please contact me.

Incidentally as a quick case-study, the BBC illustrates an important aspect of leadership, namely

philosophy.

Philosophy (you could call it 'fundamental purpose') is the foundation on which to build strategy,

management, operational activities, and pretty well everything else that happens in an

organization.

Whatever the size of the organization, operational activities need to be reconcilable with a single

congruent (fitting, harmonious) philosophy.

Executives, managers, staff, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, etc., need solid philosophical principles

(another term would be a 'frame of reference') on which to base their expectations, decisions and

actions. In a vast complex organization like the BBC, leadership will be very challenging at the best of

times due to reasons of size, diversity, political and public interest, etc. Having a conflicting philosophy

dramatically increases these difficulties for everyone, not least the leader, because the frame of

reference is confusing.

For leadership to work well, people (employees and interested outsiders) must be able to connect their

expectations, aims and activities to a basic purpose or philosophy of the organization. This foundational

philosophy should provide vital reference points for employees' decisions and actions - an increasingly

significant factor in modern 'empowered' organizations. Seeing a clear philosophy and purpose is also

essential for staff, customers and outsiders in assessing crucial organizational characteristics such as

integrity, ethics, fairness, quality and performance. A clear philosophy is vital to the 'psychological

contract' - whether stated or unstated (almost always unstated) - on which people (employees,

customers or observers) tend to judge their relationships and transactions.

The BBC is an example (it's not the only one) of an organization which has a confusing organizational

philosophy. At times it is inherently conflicting. For example: Who are its owners? Who are its

customers? What are its priorities and obligations? Are its commercial operations a means to an end, or

an end in themselves? Is its main aim to provide commercial mainstream entertainment, or non-

commercial education and information? Is it a public service, or is it a commercial provider? Will it one

day be privatised in part or whole? If so will this threaten me or benefit me? As an employee am I

sharing in something, or being exploited? As a customer (if the description is apt) am I also an owner?

Or am I funding somebody else's gravy train? What are the organization's obligations to the state and to

government?

Given such uncertainties, not only is there a very unclear basic philosophy and purpose, but also, it's

very difficult to achieve consistency for leadership messages to staff and customers. Also, how can staff

and customers align their efforts and expectations with such confusing aims and principles?

The BBC is just an example. There are many organizations, large and small, with conflicting and

confusing fundamental aims. The lesson is that philosophy - or underpinning purpose - is the

foundation on which leadership (for strategy, management, motivation, everything) is built. If the

foundation is not solid and viable, and is not totally congruent with what follows, then everything built

onto it is prone to wobble, and at times can fall over completely.

Get the philosophy right - solid and in harmony with the activities - and the foundation is strong.

Again, the Psychological Contract provides a helpful perspective for aligning people and organizational

philosopy.

This of course gives rise to the question of what to do if you find yourself leading a team or

organization which lacks clarity of fundamental philosophy and purpose, and here lies an inescapable

difference between managing and leading:

As a leader your responsibility extends beyond leading the people. True leadership also includes -

as far as your situation allows - the responsibility to protect or refine fundamental purpose and

philosophy.

See also the notes and processes for incorporating fundamental philosophy within strategic business

development and marketing.

 

Allegiance and leadership

Different leaders have different ideas about leadership. For example, see below Jack Welch's

perspective, which even though quite modern compared to many leaders, is nevertheless based on quite

traditional leadership principles.

First here is a deeper more philosophical view of effective modern leadership which addresses the

foundations of effective leadership, rather than the styles and methods built on top, which are explained

later.

A British government initiative surfaced in March 2008, which suggested that young people should

swear an oath of allegiance to 'Queen and Country', seemingly as a means of improving national

loyalty, identity, and allegiance.

While packaged as a suggestion to address 'disaffection' among young people, the idea was essentially

concerned with leadership - or more precisely a failing leadership.

The idea was rightly and unanimously dismissed by all sensible commentators as foolhardy nonsense,

but it does provide a wonderful perspective by which to examine and illustrate the actual important

principles of leadership:

1. Always, when leaders say that the people are not following, it's the leaders who are lost, not the

people.

2. Leaders get lost because of isolation, delusion, arrogance, plain stupidity, etc., but above all

because they become obsessed with imposing their authority, instead of truly leading.

3. Incidentally, leading is helping people achieve a shared vision, not telling people what to do.

4. It is not possible for a leader to understand and lead people when the leader's head is high in the

clouds or stuck firmly up his backside.

5. That is to say - loyalty to leadership relies on the leader having a connection with and

understanding of people's needs and wishes and possibilities. Solutions to leadership challenges

do not lie in the leader's needs and wishes. Leadership solutions lie in the needs and wishes of

the followers.

6. The suggestion that loyalty and a following can be built by simply asking or forcing people to

be loyal is not any basis for effective leadership.

7. Prior to expecting anyone to follow, a leader first needs to demonstrate a vision and values

worthy of a following.

8. A given type of leadership inevitably attracts the same type of followers. Put another way, a

leadership cannot behave in any way that it asks its people not to.

9. In other words, for people to embrace and follow modern compassionate, honest, ethical,

peaceful, and fair principles, they must see these qualities demonstrated by their leadership.

10. People are a lot cleverer than most leaders think.

11. People have a much keener sense of truth than most leaders think.

12. People quickly lose faith in a leader who behaves as if points 10 and 11 do not exist.

13. People generally have the answers which elude the leaders - they just have better things to do

than help the leader to lead - like getting on with their own lives.

14. A leadership which screws up in a big way should come clean and admit their errors. People

will generally forgive mistakes but they do not tolerate being treated like idiots by leaders.

15. And on the question of mistakes, a mistake is an opportunity to be better, and to show remorse

and a lesson learned. This is how civilization progresses.

16. A leader should be brave enough to talk when lesser people want to fight. Anyone can resort to

threats and aggression. Being aggressive is not leading. It might have been a couple of thousand

years ago, but it's not now. The nature of humankind and civilization is to become more

civilized. Leaders should enable not obstruct this process.

 Traditional leadership tips - jack welch style..

Jack Welch, respected business leader and writer is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership

principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book 'Jack: Straight From The Gut'):

1. There is only one way - the straightway. It sets the tone of the organization.

2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your

organization.

3. Get the right people in the right jobs - it is more important than developing a strategy.

4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.

5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.

6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner - the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be

open.

7. Business has to be fun - celebrations energies and organization.

8. Never underestimate the other guy.

9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.

10. Know when to meddle and when to let go - this is pure instinct.

As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen

by:

knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them

building a team committed to achieving the objectives

helping each team member to give their best efforts

As a leader you must know yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build

the best team around you.

However - always remember the philosophical platform - this ethical platform is not a technique

or a process - it's the foundation on which all the techniques and methodologies are based.

Plan carefully, with your people where appropriate, how you will achieve your aims. You may have to

redefine or develop your own new aims and priorities. Leadership can be daunting for many people

simply because no-one else is issuing the aims - leadership often means you have to create your own

from a blank sheet of paper. Set and agree clear standards. Keep the right balance between 'doing'

yourself and managing others 'to do'.

Build teams. Ensure you look after people and that communications and relationships are good. Select

good people and help them to develop. Develop people via training and experience, particularly by

agreeing objectives and responsibilities that will interest and stretch them, and always support people

while they strive to improve and take on extra tasks. Follow the rules about delegation closely - this

process is crucial. Ensure that your managers are applying the same principles. Good leadership

principles must cascade down through the whole organization. This means that if you are leading a

large organization you must check that the processes for managing, communicating and developing

people are in place and working properly.

Communication is critical. Listen, consult, involve, explain why as well as what needs to be done.

Some leaders lead by example and are very 'hands on'; others are more distanced and let their people do

it. Whatever - your example is paramount - the way you work and conduct yourself will be the most

you can possibly expect from your people. If you set low standards you are to blame for low standards

in your people.

"... Praise loudly, blame softly." (Catherine the Great). Follow this maxim.

If you seek one single most important behavior that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your

people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take

the credit yourself - even if it's all down to you, which would be unlikely anyway. You must however

take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people make. Never

never never publicly blame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility - true

leadership offers is no hiding place for a true leader.

Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do

and think, and how they think improvements can be made.

Accentuate the positive. Express things in terms of what should be done, not what should not be done.

If you accentuate the negative, people are more likely to veer towards it. Like the mother who left her

five-year-old for a minute unsupervised in the kitchen, saying as she left the room, "...don't you go

putting those beans up your nose..."

Have faith in people to do great things - given space and air and time, everyone can achieve more than

they hope for. Provide people with relevant interesting opportunities, with proper measures and rewards

and they will more than repay your faith.

Take difficult decisions bravely, and be truthful and sensitive when you implement them.

Constantly seek to learn from the people around you - they will teach you more about yourself than

anything else. They will also tell you 90% of what you need to know to achieve your business goals.

Embrace change, but not for change's sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as you take up

your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises you ever make are those that you can

guarantee to deliver.

Here are some processes and tips for training and developing leadership.

 

Leadership behaviors and development of leadership style and skills

Leadership skills are based on leadership behavior. Skills alone do not make leaders - style and

behavior do. If you are interested in leadership training and development - start with leadership

behavior.

The growing awareness and demand for idealist principles in leadership are increasing the emphasis (in

terms of leadership characteristics) on business ethics, corporate responsibility, emotional maturity,

personal integrity, and what is popularly now known as the 'triple bottom line' (abbreviated to TBL or

3BL, representing 'profit, people, planet').

For many people (staff, customers, suppliers, investors, commentators, visionaries, etc) these are

becoming the most significant areas of attitude/behavior/appreciation required in modern business and

organizational leaders.

3BL (triple bottom line - profit, people, planet) also provides an excellent multi-dimensional

framework for explaining, developing and assessing leadership potential and capability, and also links

strongly with psychology aspects if for instance psychometrics (personality testing) features in

leadership selection and development methods: each of us is more naturally inclined to one or the other

(profit, people, planet) by virtue of our personality, which can be referenced to Jung, Myers Briggs, etc.

Much debate persists as to the validity of 'triple bottom line accounting', since standards and measures

are some way from being clearly defined and agreed, but this does not reduce the relevance of the

concept, nor the growing public awareness of it, which effectively and continuously re-shapes markets

and therefore corporate behavior. Accordingly leaders need to understand and respond to such huge

attitudinal trends, whether they can be reliably accounted for or not at the moment.

Adaptability and vision - as might be demonstrated via project development scenarios or tasks -

especially involving modern communications and knowledge technologies - are also critical for certain

leadership roles, and provide unlimited scope for leadership development processes, methods and

activities.

Cultural diversity is another topical and very relevant area requiring leadership involvement, if not

mastery. Large organizations particularly must recognize that the market-place, in terms of staff,

customers and suppliers, is truly global now, and leaders must be able to function and appreciate and

adapt to all aspects of cultural diversification. A leader who fails to relate culturally well and widely

and openly inevitably condemns the entire organization to adopt the same narrow focus and bias

exhibited by the leader.

Bear in mind that different leadership jobs (and chairman) require different types of leaders - Churchill

was fine for war but not good for peacetime re-building. There's a big difference between short-term

return on investment versus long-term change. Each warrants a different type of leadership style, and

actually very few leaders are able to adapt from one to the other. (Again see the personality styles

section: short-term results and profit require strong Jungian 'thinking' orientation, or frontal left brain

dominance; whereas long-term vision and change require 'intuition' orientation or frontal right brain

dominance).

If it's not clear already, leadership is without doubt mostly about behaviour, especially towards others.

People who strive for these things generally come to be regarded and respected as a leader by their

people:

Integrity - the most important requirement; without it everything else is for nothing.

Having an effective appreciation and approach towards corporate responsibility, (Triple Bottom

Line, Fair Trade, etc), so that the need to make profit is balanced with wider social and

environmental responsibilities.

Being very grown-up - never getting emotionally negative with people - no shouting or ranting,

even if you feel very upset or angry.

Leading by example - always be seen to be working harder and more determinedly than anyone

else.

Helping alongside your people when they need it.

Fairness - treating everyone equally and on merit.

Being firm and clear in dealing with bad or unethical behaviour.

Listening to and really understanding people, and show them that you understand (this doesn't

mean you have to agree with everyone - understanding is different to agreeing).

Always taking the responsibility and blame for your people's mistakes.

Always giving your people the credit for your successes.

Never self-promoting.

Backing-up and supporting your people.

Being decisive - even if the decision is to delegate or do nothing if appropriate - but be seen to

be making fair and balanced decisions.

Asking for people's views, but remain neutral and objective.

Being honest but sensitive in the way that you give bad news or criticism.

Always doing what you say you will do - keeping your promises.

Working hard to become expert at what you do technically, and at understanding your people's

technical abilities and challenges.

Encouraging your people to grow, to learn and to take on as much as they want to, at a pace

they can handle.

Always accentuating the positive (say 'do it like this', not 'don't do it like that').

Smiling and encouraging others to be happy and enjoy themselves.

Relaxing - breaking down the barriers and the leadership awe - and giving your people and

yourself time to get to know and respect each other.

Taking notes and keeping good records.

Planning and prioritizing.

Managing your time well and helping others to do so too.

Involving your people in your thinking and especially in managing change.

Reading good books, and taking advice from good people, to help develop your own

understanding of yourself, and particularly of other people's weaknesses (some of the best books

for leadership are not about business at all - they are about people who triumph over adversity).

Achieve the company tasks and objectives, while maintaining your integrity, the trust of your

people, are a balancing the corporate aims with the needs of the world beyond.

 

Great leadership quotes and inspirational quotes

Some of these quotes are available as free motivational posters.

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in

covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt)

"The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the

landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go." (Egyptian proverb)

"No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself." (William Penn)

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." (President Harry S

Truman)

"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson)

"What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul." (The Holy Bible,

Mark 8:36)

"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay)

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a

dozen." (John Steinbeck)

"I keep six honest serving-men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When,

And How and Where and Who." (Rudyard Kipling, from 'Just So Stories', 1902.)

"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself." (Didacus Stella,

circa AD60 - and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English £2 coin)

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and

dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709-84)

"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes - any fool can do that. The really

important thing is to profit from your mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For

my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the

bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how

charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." (WE

Henley, 1849-1903, from 'Invictus')

"Everybody can get angry - that's easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at

the right time, for the right reason and in the right way - that's hard." (Aristotle)

"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren

Appley)

"It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer

of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;

whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up

short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a

worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at

least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who

know neither victory nor defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt.)

"Behind an able man there are always other able men." (Chinese Proverb.)

"I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)

"Experto Credite." ("Trust one who has proved it." Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)

 

More leadership and inspirational quotes

See also the free motivational posters for leadership quotes.

 

Leadership development exercises and games

They are various games and exercises on the free team building games section that work well for

demonstrating, assessing and developing leadership. See particularly the 'leading or managing' exercise,

which is a flexible activity for illustrating the differences between managing and leading. As regards

leadership exercises for experiential development of leadership abilities, focus on the leadership

challenge of leading and managing a team - the task itself is secondary - so virtually any team game is

suitable provided you give each leader a team of four or more people to lead. The more people, the

bigger the test of leadership. You do not need a complicated exercise to create a leadership challenge.

The leadership challenge is produced by having to organise, plan and motivate a team of people. In

fact, if the task is too complex it will obscure the team leadership issues, by distracting from or

hampering leadership skills and qualities. For leadership development choose exercises that includes an

enjoyable and achievable challenge - even very basic games like newspaper towers will be a good test

of leadership if you create teams of four or more for the leader to lead. Use games that you feel will

produce variety, fun and a mixture of activities. The round tables exercise is particularly suitable to test

and develop leadership skills. Choose a mixture of exercises which encourage the leaders think about

using a different approach, and different people's strengths, for each challenge.

 

leadership articles and leadership development justification

Many articles appear in the press and trade journals about leadership; look out for them, they can teach

you a lot.

Newspaper articles - particularly those that appear in the serious press - about leadership and

management, organizational and business culture, are an excellent source of ideas, examples and

references for developing leadership.

A journalist could have spent a week researching the subject, talking to leading business leaders,

academics and writers, and preparing useful statistics. This is valuable material. Learn from it, use it

and keep it, because finding specific detail like this is usually quite difficult.

Serious relevant articles in the newspapers, trade press, or online equivalent, cost little or nothing, and

yet they can be invaluable in developing your own ideas about leadership, and in providing compelling

justification to organizations and managers for the need to adopt new ideas and different approach to

leadership development.

Particularly powerful are articles which describe corporate failings, many with huge liabilities, arising

from poor leadership behaviour and decisions, and which appear in the news virtually every week.

Recent history is also littered with all sorts of corporate disasters and scandals, and while these high-

profile examples are of a grander scale than usually applies in typical organisations, the same principles

apply - an organisation is only as good as its leadership - at all levels.

Business disasters and failures - be their nature environmental, financial, safety, commercial or people-

related - are invariably traceable back to a failure in leadership, and so any boardroom that says "That

sort of thing wouldn't happen to us.." or "Our managers all know how to lead without being taught.." is

probably riding for a fall.

Finding specific examples of cost and return on investment relating to leadership development is not

easy (measuring leadership 'cause and effect' is not as simple as more tangible business elements),

which is why it's useful to keep any such articles when you happen to see them.

Certain leadership development organisations are sometimes able to provide ROI justification and/or

case studies, which is another possible source of evidence for reports and justification studies.

And given the growing significance of corporate ethics and responsibility, we can expect to see

increasing ROI data relating to 'Triple Bottom Line' and 'Corporate Responsibility', which being

strongly linked to leadership therefore will provide a further source of evidence and justification for

leadership development.

Differentiating Leadership And ManagementIf the difference between leadership and management is not clear, we can illustrate it by considering

what happens when you have one without the other.

Leadership without Management

...sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is

going to be achieved. Other people then have to work hard in the trail that is left behind, picking up the

pieces and making it work. Eg: in Lord of the Rings, at the council of Elrond, Frodo Baggins rescues

the council from conflict by taking responsibility for the quest of destroying the ring. He sets a

direction, but most of the management of the group comes from others - particularly Gandalf and

Aragorn.

Management Without Leadership

...controls resources to maintain the status quo or ensure things happen according to already-established

plans. Eg: a referee manages a sports game, but does not usually provide "leadership" because there is

no new change, no new direction. The referee is controlling resources to ensure that the laws of the

game are followed.

Some Potential Confusion...

The absence of leadership should not be confused with the type of leadership that calls for 'no action' to

be taken. For example, when Gandhi went on hunger strike and called for protests to stop, during the

negotiations for India's independence, he demonstrated great leadership - because taking no action was

a new direction for the Indian people at that time.

Also, what is often referred to as "participative management" can be a very effective form of

leadership. In this approach, a new direction may seem to emerge from the group rather than the leader.

However, the leader has facilitated that new direction whilst also engendering ownership within the

group - i.e., it is an advanced form of leadership.

Sometimes, an individual may act as a figure head for change and be viewed as a leader even though

he/she hasn't set any new direction. This can arise when a group sets a new direction of its own accord,

and needs to express that new direction in the form of a symbolic leader. An example is Nelson

Mandela whilst in prison:

During the period when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned (when his ability to provide personal, direct

leadership was limited) he continued to grow in power and influence as the symbolic leader for the

anti-apartheid movement.

Following his release from prison, he demonstrated actual leadership by leading South Africa into a

process of reconciliation rather than retribution.

Leadership And Management Summary

Leadership is about setting a new direction for a group; management is about directing and controlling

according to established principles. However, someone can be a symbolic leader if they emerge as the

spearhead of a direction the group sets for itself.

10 Common Leadership and Management Mistakes

Avoiding Universal Pitfalls

Avoid common leadership and management mistakes.

© iStockphoto/Laflor

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.

– Oscar Wilde

It's often said that mistakes provide great learning opportunities. However, it's much better not to make

mistakes in the first place!

In this article, we're looking at 10 of the most common leadership and management errors, and

highlighting what you can do to avoid them. If you can learn about these here, rather than through

experience, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble!

1. Lack of Feedback

Sarah is a talented sales representative, but she has a habit of answering the phone in an unprofessional

manner. Her boss is aware of this, but he's waiting for her performance review to tell her where she's

going wrong. Unfortunately, until she's been alerted to the problem, she'll continue putting off potential

customers.

According to 1,400 executives polled by The Ken Blanchard Companies, failing to provide feedback is

the most common mistake that leaders make. When you don't provide prompt feedback to your people,

you're depriving them of the opportunity to improve their performance.

To avoid this mistake, learn how to provide regular feedback to your team. (You can use our Bite-

Sized Training session on Giving Feedback to gain an in-depth understanding of feedback, and to

learn how to provide it effectively.)

2. Not Making Time for Your Team

When you're a manager or leader, it's easy to get so wrapped up in your own workload that you don't

make yourself available to your team.

Yes, you have projects that you need to deliver. But your people must come first – without you being

available when they need you, your people won't know what to do, and they won't have the support and

guidance that they need to meet their objectives.

Avoid this mistake by blocking out time in your schedule specifically for your people, and by learning

how to listen actively to your team. Develop your emotional intelligence so that you can be more

aware of your team and their needs, and have a regular time when "your door is always open", so that

your people know when they can get your help. You can also use Management By Walking Around,

which is an effective way to stay in touch with your team.

Once you're in a leadership or management role, your team should always come first - this is, at heart,

what good leadership is all about!

3. Being Too "Hands-Off"

One of your team has just completed an important project. The problem is that he misunderstood the

project's specification, and you didn't stay in touch with him as he was working on it. Now, he's

completed the project in the wrong way, and you're faced with explaining this to an angry client.

Many leaders want to avoid micromanagement. But going to the opposite extreme (with a hand-offs

management style) isn't a good idea either – you need to get the balance right.

Our article, Laissez Faire versus Micromanagement will help you find the right balance for your own

situation.

4. Being Too Friendly

Most of us want to be seen as friendly and approachable to people in our team. After all, people are

happier working for a manager that they get on with. However, you'll sometimes have to make tough

decisions regarding people in your team, and some people will be tempted to take advantage of your

relationship if you're too friendly with them.

This doesn't mean that you can't socialize with your people. But, you do need to get the balance right

between being a friend and being the boss.

Learn how to do avoid this mistake with our article, Now You're the Boss. Also, make sure that

you set clear boundaries, so that team members aren't tempted to take advantage of you.

5. Failing to Define Goals

When your people don't have clear goals, they muddle through their day. They can't be productive if

they have no idea what they're working for, or what their work means. They also can't prioritize their

workload effectively, meaning that projects and tasks get completed in the wrong order.

Avoid this mistake by learning how to set SMART goals for your team. Use a Team Charter to

specify where your team is going, and detail the resources it can draw upon. Also, use principles

from Management by Objectives to align your team's goals to the mission of the organization.

6. Misunderstanding Motivation

Do you know what truly motivates your team? Here's a hint: chances are, it's not just money!

Many leaders make the mistake of assuming that their team is only working for monetary reward.

However, it's unlikely that this will be the only thing that motivates them.

For example, people seeking a greater work/life balance might be motivated by telecommuting days or

flexible working. Others will be motivated by factors such as achievement, extra responsibility, praise,

or a sense of camaraderie.

To find out what truly drives your people, read our articles on McClelland's Human Motivation

Theory and Theory X and Theory Y. Then take our test "How Good Are Your Motivation Skills?"

to learn how to be a great motivator of people.

7. Hurrying Recruitment

When your team has a large workload, it's important to have a full team. But filling a vacant role too

quickly can be a disastrous mistake.

Hurrying recruitment can lead to recruiting the wrong people for your team: people who are

uncooperative, ineffective or unproductive. They might also require additional training, and slow down

others on your team. With the wrong person, you'll have wasted valuable time and resources if things

don't work out and they leave. What's worse, other team members will be stressed and frustrated by

having to "carry" the under-performer.

You can avoid this mistake by learning how to recruit effectively, and by being particularly picky

about the people you bring into your team.

8. Not "Walking the Walk"

If you make personal telephone calls during work time, or speak negatively about your CEO, can you

expect people on your team not to do this too? Probably not!

As a leader, you need to be a role model for your team. This means that if they need to stay late, you

should also stay late to help them. Or, if your organization has a rule that no one eats at their desk, then

set the example and head to the break room every day for lunch. The same goes for your attitude – if

you're negative some of the time, you can't expect your people not to be negative.

So remember, your team is watching you all the time. If you want to shape their behavior, start with

your own. They'll follow suit.

9. Not Delegating

Some managers don't delegate, because they feel that no-one apart from themselves can do key jobs

properly. This can cause huge problems as work bottlenecks around them, and as they become stressed

and burned out.

Delegation does take a lot of effort up-front, and it can be hard to trust your team to do the work

correctly. But unless you delegate tasks, you're never going to have time to focus on the "broader-view"

that most leaders and managers are responsible for. What's more, you'll fail to develop your people so

that they can take the pressure off you.

To find out if this is a problem for you, take our interactive quiz, How Well Do You Delegate? If you

need to improve your skills, you can then learn key strategies with our articles, Successful Delegation,

and The Delegation Dilemma.

10. Misunderstanding Your Role

Once you become a leader or manager, your responsibilities are very different from those you had

before.

However, it's easy to forget that your job has changed, and that you now have to use a different set of

skills to be effective. This leads to you not doing what you've been hired to do – leading and managing.

Our articles Now You're The Boss and From Technical Expert to Manager provide more

information on the additional skills that you need to develop to be an effective manager. Make sure that

you learn these skills – you'll fail if you try to rely on technical skills alone, however good they are!

Key Points

We all make mistakes, and there are some mistakes that leaders and managers make in particular.

These include, not giving good feedback, being too "hands-off," not delegating effectively, and

misunderstanding your role.

It's true that making a mistake can be a learning opportunity. But, taking the time to learn how to

recognize and avoid common mistakes can help you become productive and successful, and highly

respected by your team.

Leadership vs. Management

Disciplines   > Leadership > Leadership vs. Management

Managers have subordinates | Leaders have followers | See also

What is the difference between management and leadership? It is a question that has been asked

more than once and also answered in different ways. The biggest difference between managers and

leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most

other aspects of what they do.

Many people, by the way, are both. They have management jobs, but they realize that you cannot

buy hearts, especially to follow them down a difficult path, and so act as leaders too.

Managers have subordinates

By definition, managers have subordinates - unless their title is honorary and given as a mark of

seniority, in which case the title is a misnomer and their power over others is other than formal

authority.

Authoritarian, transactional style

Managers have a position of authority vested in them by the company, and their subordinates work

for them and largely do as they are told. Management style is transactional, in that the manager tells

the subordinate what to do, and the subordinate does this not because they are a blind robot, but

because they have been promised a reward (at minimum their salary) for doing so.

Work focus

Managers are paid to get things done (they are subordinates too), often within tight constraints of

time and money. They thus naturally pass on this work focus to their subordinates.

Seek comfort

An interesting research finding about managers is that they tend to come from stable home

backgrounds and led relatively normal and comfortable lives. This leads them to be relatively risk-

averse and they will seek to avoid conflict where possible. In terms of people, they generally like to

run a 'happy ship'.

Leaders have followers

Leaders do not have subordinates - at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders

do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. But when they want to lead, they

have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is

always a voluntary activity.

Charismatic, transformational style

Telling people what to do does not inspire them to follow you. You have to appeal to them, showing

how following them will lead to their hearts' desire. They must want to follow you enough to stop

what they are doing and perhaps walk into danger and situations that they would not normally

consider risking.

Leaders with a stronger charisma find it easier to attract people to their cause. As a part of their

persuasion they typically promisetransformational benefits, such that their followers will not just

receive extrinsic rewards but will somehow become better people.

People focus

Although many leaders have a charismatic style to some extent, this does not require a loud

personality. They are always good with people, and quiet styles that give credit to others (and takes

blame on themselves) are very effective at creating the loyalty that great leaders engender.

Although leaders are good with people, this does not mean they are friendly with them. In order to

keep the mystique of leadership, they often retain a degree of separation and aloofness.

This does not mean that leaders do not pay attention to tasks - in fact they are often very

achievement-focused. What they do realize, however, is the importance of enthusing others to work

towards their vision.

Seek risk

In the same study that showed managers as risk-averse, leaders appeared as risk-seeking, although

they are not blind thrill-seekers. When pursuing their vision, they consider it natural to encounter

problems and hurdles that must be overcome along the way. They are thus comfortable with risk

and will see routes that others avoid as potential opportunities for advantage and will happily break

rules in order to get things done.

A surprising number of these leaders had some form of handicap in their lives which they had to

overcome. Some had traumatic childhoods, some had problems such as dyslexia, others were

shorter than average. This perhaps taught them the independence of mind that is needed to go out on

a limb and not worry about what others are thinking about you.

In summary

This table summarizes the above (and more) and gives a sense of the differences between being a

leader and being a manager. This is, of course, an illustrative characterization, and there is a whole

spectrum between either ends of these scales along which each role can range. And many people

lead and manage at the same time, and so may display a combination of behaviors.

 

What Makes a Good Leader? Simple Ways to Improve Your Management Skills

What makes a good leader is the use of effective management skills such as

spending 50 percent or more of their time listening carefully. Great leaders understand that some of the

best leadership qualities entail listening to others with undivided attention.

When was the last time you actually listened single-mindedly to one of your staff members? Can you

remember when you last listened to someone without interruptions or distractions from either telephone

calls or drop-in visitors, when you just focused intently on the person speaking with you, ignoring all

else?

When CEO Alan Mulally arrived at Ford, he used a technique he had refined at Boeing. He found a

way to instantly shift the senior executives on his team from talkers to listeners by changing the way he

evaluated his team’s performance. “It always comes down to incentives. What’s the incentive for

someone to behave differently? Is it recognition, time, or more money? No. It’s usually visibility,” he

said.

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“When you give a speech, you’ll be scored by the audience,” he told his team. “So those executives

who were smart enough to leave lots of time for Q & A got better grades than those who lectured. And

those managers who encouraged . . . a dialogue with the team came out on top.”

Great leaders with excellent management skills encourage input and change, and the best way to

measure them is based on feedback they get from their best people. People usually give the best scores

to leaders you trust and to leaders who listen.

The Most Essential Leadership Qualities

Integrity is perhaps the most valued and respected quality of leadership and one of the most important

management skills you need to attain. By saying what you’ll do and then doing what you say, you will

build trust around your team.

Do you stand up and speak out for what you believe? Do you demonstrate the courage to stay the

course when the going gets tough and the outcome looks uncertain?

What makes a good leader is the ability to stay calm and in control, especially when everyone around

them is wondering whether it’s the right decision or if it was a mistake to commit to a particular course

of action. When you exude confidence in yourself, in the decision, and in the people around you, you

instill the same feelings and attitudes in others.

Leaders have what is called “courageous patience.” Between the decision and the result, there is always

a period of uncertainty when no one knows if the effort is going to be successful. To be a successful

leader, you must strive to have these essential leadership qualities.

If you have lived with this feeling many times in your career, you’re in good company.

What Makes a Good Leader?

To be successful as a leader, you need a combination of two ingredients: character and competence.

You need to be a person of integrity. Someone people trust and are willing to follow.

To be trusted in business, you must be trustworthy. You must believe in yourself, your company, the

essential goodness of your products and services, and in your people. You need to

believe that you are offering an excellent product or service in every way, one that makes a difference

in the lives of your customers. You must lead by example and obtain management skills that inspire

others to join you in the exciting project of building a great company.

At the same time, you must become excellent at the key capabilities and functions of leadership and set

yourself on a course of continuous improvement throughout your career.

“You need the humility to remind yourself that you’ve got to get better at everything you do,” insisted

Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, when we spoke with him. “I don’t know about you, but I’m never done

growing my company or myself.”

Believe in Yourself

Management guru Jim Collins uses the phrase “level 5 leadership” to describe the characteristic of the

best leaders, those who build great companies. Out of all the existing leadership qualities, the most

fascinating and distinguishing characteristic of level 5 is an often misunderstood trait: humility.

As it happens, humility doesn’t actually mean being humble. People who are crazy enough to launch

businesses as the economy is falling apart and then fight Goliath-size adversaries,

are not exactly humble. Humility simply means you have a “burning, driving, relentless ambition to

serve and to win,” Collins told me, “without the arrogance to delude yourself into believing that you are

all knowing or always right.”

As a level 5 leader, you don’t believe you are perfect. You must, however, believe in yourself, and be

convinced that you have what it takes to succeed and that you can get better. You are always looking

for new ways to develop your leadership qualities and take your game to the next level.