Not all managers are leaders, but all leaders are managers

Leadership and management are inseparable, and no effective leader can disparage or neglect, competent and efficient management. Leaders must put people with different skills and knowledge, together, to achieve common goals. As a matter of fact, that is why leadership exists, and that is why management is essential to what leaders do.

Managers are people who do things right, and leaders are people who do the right thing. Leaders are the stewards of vision, conviction, beliefs and strategic decisions, but leaders must absolutely manage, if not, there will be a disconnect, between conviction and operation. The attempt to separate leadership from management has led to a host of disasters, and it is easy to see why.

Management delivers the goods, and determines what the organisation actually does. If this is severed from leadership, there is no assurance that the organisation will deliver on its mission. Leaders lead by definition, but they also lead by management.

So, what does management actually entail? The fundamental task of management is to make people capable of joint performance, by giving them common goals, common values, the right structure, and the ongoing training and development they need, to perform and to respond to change. You might say, management, is leadership put into action.

A leader who does not know how the work is done in the organisation, including how the budget is determined, cannot possibly lead with effectiveness. Management by objective, usually credited to Peter Drucker, can go wrong, if the objectives are wrong, to start with. Therefore, management by conviction, is not a theory, just a commitment.

That commitment means that the leader exercises management, so that the convictions of the organisation, are honoured, perpetuated, communicated, and put into combined action. Leadership and management, begins and ends in conviction.