The difference between management and leadership

By William Seidman John Kotter’s now-classic article, “What Leaders Really Do,” was published by the Harvard Business Review some years ago. Its message rang true then, and it does today. Kotter makes the distinction between leadership and management: leadership is about guiding an organization through change. Management, on the other hand, is about facilitating and inspiring the daily efficient execution of the change. Organizations need both but, in a misguided effort, spend most of their time and energy on management. The need for great leadership, and for support of great leaders, is often given short shrift. At Cerebyte we’ve noticed a decline in leadership during the recession – as if people are fearful of making a change, and so are almost hiding.  As understandable as this response might be, it’s of little use to organizations; in fact it dooms them. Our work seeks to support and reinforce leadership so that, during this recession and beyond it, companies and organizations can thrive.]]>