A question I am frequently asked is “what is the difference between management and leadership?” This is also a frequent topic in many training sessions I have attended. A question that can be answered in many different ways.

One common way is to create a long list of functions or behaviours that are then debated and credited to either a manager or a leader. This approach is useful for identifying attributes and encouraging thought and debate, however to easily distinguish between a manager and a leader this way is complex as many people are both. Some people may find definitions more straight-forward to interpret, such as;

“The main difference between leaders and managers, is that leaders have people follow them while managers have people who work for them”

“You manage things, you lead people!”

Perhaps the time has come to stop asking the question or trying to define the difference between a manager and a leader, as it's more beneficial to recognise the relationship between management and leadership.