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Manage Process - Lead People

By David Witmer posted 01-30-2015 10:02

  

I find that all too often discussions seem to confuse the concept of leadership with the concept of management. Leadership resources often seem to focus on what are really management issues. We manage processes and lead people. Recently during a meeting I heard someone offer this simple explanation of this simple philosophy of the culture and values of their business and it struck a chord with me. In one simple expression captures the essence of the difference between leadership and management.

Leadership is about the influence one has over people. In order to lead others you must instill a common sense of purpose and shared values. Others have to embrace a vision for what can be accomplished and apply a shared set of values to solve problems and challenges that arise along the way. Leadership is not about establishing the specific steps in a process to accomplish a goal, but about instilling a sense of purpose and a shared vision and commitment to the outcome you seek to achieve and empowering others to pursue goals.

Management on the other hand focuses on defining processes. Management focuses on establishing clear processes that result in a consistent quality of work product that is produced efficiently. Peter Drucker famously said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” But to some extent this also misses the mark. Management is about doing things right but leadership is about inspiring others to action. Dwight Eisenhower comes closer to the mark when he said that leadership is “The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

Of course the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Good managers must also be leaders and good leaders must also manage to some extent. But it’s helpful to remember that leadership is focused on relationships with people while management is focused on defining and controlling process. At least for me this helps to more clearly distinguish between these two important concepts.

Remember, everyone can be a leader even if they are not in a position with the title of director or manager. How do you draw a distinction between leadership and management? Anyone else have thoughts on how to better distinguish between these two important functions?



#PharmacyPracticeManagers #NewPractitioners #PharmacyStudents #Leadership
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01-30-2015 14:43

Thanks for commenting Dennis!
Not that management is not an important part of my role, but the further I progress in my career I find that I focus more effort on leadership because in most efforts it is the human element that is the key to success.

01-30-2015 12:17

Well said, David...
I have heard it said that managers worry about doing things right; leaders worry about doing the righ things.
It is often hard to do one without the other.
A good manager sets metrics in place to understand a process. A manager who is a leader constantly questions whether or not the metrics are telling them what they need to know. They never let the metrics become an end unto themselves.
As you point out, not being a manager is not an excuse for not being a leader. Any of us can help keep the focus on the mission and vision; any of us can mentor others; any of us can ask the hard questions; all of us, as professionals, need to keep our own eyes on the goal.