This morning I had a discussion with an individual where, once again, the perspective was that "management is a bad activity and leadership is a good activity." This could not be farther from the truth.

Consider the following brief table which I am developing for a chapter in a new book I am writing. It is illustrative and speaks for itself.

Competency & Practice Differences Between Leaders and Managers

Managers - act; rarely deliberate; do it “by the book.”

-----Leaders deliberate a lot; study; reflect; throw away the book; create new

Managers - focus is on control, structure and systems.

------Leaders - focus is on change

Managers - have a linear perspective & connect dots in an “A-B-C” manner

-----Leaders see the whole picture & have a non-linear perspective – and see parts of the picture not on the canvas; connects dots in random fashion

Managers - ask a limited set of questions – just how and when?

----Leaders ask many questions – what and why?

Managers - guide and direct people

----Leaders inspire people

Managers - pick up the task from the leader

----Leaders create the visions that give birth to new tasks