Leadership vs. Management

Adapted from an article by Dr. James N. Farr, founder of Farr Associates.

Is there a difference between leadership and management?  Absolutely.  To be an effective leader, one must know how to make this distinction, understand it, and be able to apply it.  Both management and leadership skills are important to have, but knowing when and how to apply them is even more crucial.  At Farr Associates, we teach our clients how to do this.  It boils down to a simple thought: manage tasks; lead people.

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Leadership, productivity and turnover… oh my

By Peter Van Schaack

What are some key indicators that your organization needs leadership development?

 

In order to answer that question, we should first define leadership.  According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the definition of Leadership is: Function: noun 1: the office or position of a leader
2: capacity to lead. 

 

I however, would suggest that leadership is a verb, and is in fact: the act of creating or facilitating change. The quality of that change, and how easily or how difficultly it occurs, is a function of leadership quality. Whether it is improving process, implementing new technology, creating new products, or improving service to customers, change requires effective leadership to achieve it.  And, it is in fact leadership that will get you there, not management. 

 

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New Landmark Research Shows how to Reduce the Pain of Change

 

Do you have a workload that is staggering at times?  Do you wonder what to tackle first? Then you decide to tackle your priority items.  You concentrate on that work and guess what? It gets done. It makes sense, what you pay attention to is what gets done.  And, it stands to reason that what you don’t pay attention to does not get done. 

This applies to your leadership skills as well.  You need to pay attention to them, not only so they grow, but so they become second nature.  In a recent article by David Rock and Jeffry Schwartz, in Strategy + Business magazine, they refer to this as “Attention Density; Repeated, purposeful and focused attention which leads to
long-lasting personal evolution.” 

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People Leave Managers,

Not Companies

By Mark Ernsberger

 

Even in a tight economy, the

costs of replacing a good

employee remain the same.

 

You may be familiar with the following statistic: The cost of replacing one employee equals one to three times the annual salary and benefits total plus the additional cost of lost revenue that the seasoned employee would likely have generated. Tougher to measure are losses such as pre-turnover costs (lowered productivity, absenteeism), vacancy costs (overtime/overtaxing existing satisfied employees), or recruiting and new hire training.

But did you know this? The number one reason employees voluntarily leave their jobs is not the company, not the work, but the boss.

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