Are good managers good leaders always?

It is obvious in professional life to have disagreements and different view points. You land up to arguments and arguments land up to wars at times ;-). I have gone through similar ones a lot in past and when I introspect as to why, one realizes that once you are a leader (someone whom people look up to) you own responsibilities of a lot of people within the organization and outside, you influence them but hey you might not be able to manage them well.

Management is all about numbers exercise - topline, bottom line, targets, achievements, profits, etc and you are accessed against meeting those numbers. Leadership is all about "inspiring people" and for all you know you can inspire people with your management skills. Leadership is all about who you are and management is all about how you do things. Management is more of a skill just like teaching, cooking, etc while leadership is what is within and attributes that can be "followed by". Being courageous, trust worthy, visionary are all qualities that a good leader should possess and has to be felt by others. While management is merely a skill that can be worked upon on daily basis till you get better at it. Being a good leader is more like working on yourself - self-improvement, thinking, defining and visioning. Being a a good manager is all about planning, achieving, setting company's goals.

However, what is common between a manager and a leader is good listening skills, thirst for knowledge and highly dependable and accountable. Both realize the importance of their contribution to the business and make sure to be committed to it.

So, lets play a game today, on the scale of 10 (where 10 is the best), rate yourself and me on Leadership and Management. (Leave a comment)