Managing vs. leading

Posted by on Apr 29, 2011 in Awakening, Ninjutsu, On ko chi shin, Photography | 7 comments

The difference between managing and leading is starkly simple. Imagine you’ve got a patch of woods that’s brambles, thorns, trees, and brush.

New England Warrior Camp 2010

Leadership is being the girl or guy in front, hacking away at the foliage, making the trail.

Managing is being the team behind the leader that’s maintaining the trail, keeping it clear, keeping it free of the obstacles the leader has removed, for everyone else to use.

You cannot do both well.

If you’re leading, it’s counterproductive to go back down the trail and manage. If there’s no one else to do it, there’s no one else to do it, but every second you spend managing the trail is a second you’re not moving forward.

If you’re managing, it’s irresponsible to forsake your charge, wander off, and attempt to lead. You might not know where you’re going, and more importantly, the trail behind you will fall into disrepair quickly.

Neither is better or worse. Both are vitally important. If you want real success, know the difference between management and leadership, know which better suits your personality, and know which you’re more talented at.

Inspired in part by Ken Savage and New England Warrior Camp, which is where the photo was taken.

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  • Anonymous

    Chris,
    Great post and a distinction I often make with people as well. I haven’t used this analogy before, but I may co-opt it. One point I’d like to add (and maybe you meant it, though I don’t want to assume) is that I think one can do both leading and managing, but one can’t do them at the same time. As in, in one role/job/function/on a project, you might manage it. On the next, you may lead. One can still have the capacity and ability for both, but not the bandwidth to execute both simultaneously.

  • Anonymous

    Does this imply that by being a filmmaker, and producing, directing, writing and in next season’s 168 Project film, starring as well, that I’m too distracted? Interesting take on the process.

  • http://twitter.com/susanborst susan borst

    Good perspective, thanks, Christopher. What do you think about the notion of the Peter Principle whereby great managers, who by nature may not be great leaders, are faulted for not trying to be “leaders”?

  • http://twitter.com/eoalchemy EO Alchemy 2011

    It’s easy to get into both the leading and management roles in a small company. Good advice to keep the distinction present in your company and recognize it.

  • http://www.ianmrountree.com Ian M Rountree

    Every general needs good captains to run the army (maintaining the Warrior reference from your link).

    However, the question becomes; who is most effective at being the voice of the group? Leaders far enough afield lose touch, even if the group remains on-track. Managers, in their work, have trouble finding opportunity to speak out to people not in the group, as they’re the ones with work to do.

    So, question; is quiet excellence better in either case than audible mediocrity?

  • http://www.thefourthrevolution.org Jeremie Averous

    Hi Christopher.
    While I agree with you that one cannot lead and manage at the same time, I still believe that knowing both skills is necessary.
    As you rightly mention, leadership and management do not require the same skills and have different focus areas.
    Still, to be successful it is important to be able to be flexible between these two skills. Once cannot be a leader without checking that he’s followed, and one cannot be just a manager churning the day to day maintenance work.
    Already today, and more beyond the Fourth Revolution, successful people will know how to play with the two skills and alternatively apply them

  • Kory

    I love this analogy. It puts a nice frame around roles and responsibilities. It does, however, lead me to a question.

    Would you say the same thing applies for team leadership? I believe that if you are an effective team leader (and want to remain that way), you have to be able to do both.

    Using your analogy, if you are blazing the trail, but don’t check on the rest of your team to ensure they are still with you, you’ve lost them and now have the opportunity to be a leader…of yourself. If you are too focused on managing the team, then you will never step up and lead the way forward.

    I think it is possible to do both well. We’ve seen good examples of it not only in the sports world, but in the business and social worlds as well.

    Again, thanks for the analogy. It has already sparked several discussions with friends and family.