The Difference Between Managing and Leading

What’s the difference between leading and managing employees? and what does the role as a leader now encompass? leaders are the heart of a business. The essence of leadership means inspiring a group to come together for a common goal. leders motivate, console and work with people to keep them bonded and eager to move forward. That means setting a direction, communicating it to everyone who will listen (and probably many who won’t) and keeping people psyched when times get tough.

Managers are the brains of a business. They establish systems, create rules and operating procedures, and put into place incentive programs and the like. Management, however, is about the business, not the people; the people are important as a way of getting the job done.
Most business executives and owners have a mix of management and leadership skills. Both skill sets are necessary to rim a successful business (unless it is a very small business with people who naturally mesh very well). Leadership skills provide the direction, while management skills provide the systems that let a company grow with success.

Only the top executives can set direction in a company. Setting direction is different from setting goals. A goal is concrete and measurable, for example: “we must sell 10 widgets by next Tuesday.” Direction is broader. Leaders set direction with a vision, a mission and operating principles that embody the company’s direction and values.
For instance, a mission statement for the imaginary Personal Assistants Inc. Company might sound like this: “We free people from life’s drudgery, freeing them to live a life of doing only the things they do best.” This mission doesn’t give measurable goals, but rather points to an overall direction-it gets people excited and moving in one direction.
As a business owner, someone should know his business’s direction. It might be broad, sweeping and world shattering. Or it might be smaller and local: “Smith Tailors make our customers look their best in their daily and business lives. “ But know his job to set the direction for everyone around him and communicate it well.

People sometimes forget a company’s direction in the heat of excitement over a new idea or market development. It it happens once or twice, it’s not a problem. But too many diversions can cause a company to lose focus and end up serving many different customers, in which none of them well.
A business owner’s job is to bring people back to the company direction gently and consistently and always challenge them to evaluate ideas and decisions with respect to the decision. If personal assistants propose asking clients to give 24-hour notice when they have a project, the leader simply asks: Does this help us free clients from drudgery or make more for them? The team can then decide (or even ask customers) wheter the suggestion aligns with mission.
COMPREHENSION EXERCISES
1. What is the essence of leadership?
2. Do management and leadership skills always come together in a succesful business?
3. Who is the heart of a product?
4. Is “widgets” a name of a product?
5. Should a business owner know much about business derection?
6. What are the responsibilities of a leader?
7. What should a manager be capable of as the brain of a business?
8. Which one is the most important thing in management, “people” or “business”?
9. Mention the two skills necessary to achieve a successful business!
10. What is the difference between goals and direction?