Leading vs managing
Another interesting discussion from Sig at Thingamy: mindless stuff and leadership vs. management. He starts with an example of "managing" teenagers and gets to the key that they can only be led. He closes with this
Leading is hard, very hard, and requires a full time state of mind - business at it's best. Managing is often a matter of dishing out orders, burstyness at it's worst.
I like Sig's notion that leadership is a state of mind -- and a state of mind that has to be aware and active all the time. His example of dealing with teenagers come back: if they see inconsistency, they will jump on it. And fast.
I've been talking about this difference also a lot lately...
"The bottom to all these questions seems to come down to the distinction between the foundations of management and leadership. Management for the most part is based upon the principle of control (managing people, managing processes, etc). Leadership on the other hand is based upon the principle of “guidance†and empowering others."
http://www.librarybytes.com/2006/09/on-control-empowerment.html