Leadership is a word often thrown around when talking about organizations. Many times leadership and management are used interchangeably. Although both are critically important to an organization’s success, they are significantly different in other ways.
Management vs. Leadership
Management essentially defines the organization. It describes the structure, roles, processes, measures, and controls that govern the operations of an organization. In addition, management typically relies on a hierarchical system.
Leadership, however, is equally—and sometimes more—important to organizational success.
It is the ability to set the direction that people follow. Leadership relies on personal skills and often charisma; it is not hierarchical and does not rely on any official structure. In fact, leadership can, and should, come from peers and even subordinates.
Leadership is about people. And people, like it or not, make up all organizations. Without leadership, the organization will fail despite well-defined processes and metrics.
Framing Leadership
Bolman and Deal describe four frames (or ways) of looking at issues that help motivate and lead the people working in organizations:
- Structural Frame: What makes logical sense?
- Human Resources Frame: How does this affect people?
- Symbolic Frame: How will this be perceived or will it be a precedent?
- Political Frame: How does this affect the balance of power?
Each of us has a natural frame to look at situations. However, to increase our effectiveness as leaders, we should look at the situation through more than one frame. Indeed, the solution to a problem is often found by looking at the potential impacts from the different perspectives defined by the frames.
Many management and leadership courses teach the differences in peoples’ personalities, such as the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to guess the personality of everyone working with you. But the Bolman and Deal Frames offers a relatively consistent way to assess a situation.
Granted, the Frames are obviously more complex in application than presented in this brief overview. But they are an example of the types of study and tools available through the Key Executive Program and used by graduates for more than 40 years.
Editor’s note: This post is based on lessons learned in the Key Executive Program in the School of Public Affairs at American University. The Key Executive Program Alumni Advisory Board will be providing reflections on leadership based on their experience in applying lessons learned in the classroom.
