Leader is to Manager as Stapler is to Staple

Managers lead and innovate while staying within the boundaries set by their organization. For people to be innovators they must have a solid idea of the boundaries. A manager knows what the boundaries are and is able to innovate and improve existing processes within the system.

Leaders are thought to be outside the boundaries, this is not true. Many leaders are working within confines of organizations and systems that have clearly defined boundaries. Once a leader begins to work with a team the management becomes evident. Leaders do manage and managers do lead. The term manager has gotten a bad name, any ideas why?

The manager and leader paradox is one that can work in conjunction with each other. As stated so eloquently in the post below from Leading Blog the leader and manager are conjoined.

clipped from http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2009/06/leadology_leaders_versus_manag.html The point here is not that leadership is good and management is bad. They are simply different and serve different purposes. The fundamental purpose of management is to keep the current system functioning. The fundamental purpose of leadership is to produce useful change, especially nonincremental change. It is possible to have too much or too little of either. Strong leadership with no management risks chaos; the organization might walk right off a cliff. Strong management with no leadership tends to entrench an organization in deadly bureaucracy. Management gives leadership a foundation to work from. Leadership keeps us growing and relevant. If a leader can not manage what they have created, then their leadership is not effective and serves no end.

- post from Leading Blog

-Michael Cardus is the founder of Create-Learning-Team Building, an experiential based training and development consulting organization, as well as a blogger for TeamBuilding NY. Mike specializes in team development and leadership development consulting and training, creating team-building programs that retain talented staff members, increase production and effectiveness of your team. He lives in Buffalo, NY, and travels to you to serve your team-building and leadership training needs, wherever and whenever fits your schedule.