7. Leadership and Management

"Management is about doing things right, while leadership is about doing the right things."

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Peter Drucker’s quote is a pretty good summary. In short, management is about rules and procedures, budgets and timelines, profit and loss. Leadership is about people: their values, their strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears, dreams and aspirations.

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Too many managers focus exclusively on that aspect of their role and forget that they are also leaders. Perhaps obviously, you must ensure that the management aspects of your role are attended to, but you must not neglect your leadership responsibilities. The two go hand-in-hand, so that to be successful you must take care of them both.

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Often, someone gets promoted into a management role because they were good at the technical aspects of their work. Being good “on the tools” doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be any good at leading people, and this is where many newly-appointed managers seem to struggle.

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As a leader, and as a manager too, it’s your responsibility to have an eye on the big picture. Your people will be beavering away doing their work, and you will have your part to play in that too. It’s all too easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday work, but if you let that happen then you run the risk of being blindsided by something completely unexpected.

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Trust your people to get their work done while you keep a finger on the pulse and an eye on the big picture. Think strategically. Your people might be doing great work but you’d better be sure that it’s the right work.

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There’s nothing more frustrating than working hard to climb a long and steep ladder only to discover that it’s leaning against the wrong wall.