Best of Blogs: Leading Blog by Michael McKinney

This is the seventh in our series of guest posts from our ten Best of Leadership Blogs competition finalists (cast your vote here)

Michael McKinney is the individual behind Leading Blog, a leadership blog run through LeadershipNow. He is constantly presenting new ideas on how to think about leadership differently. He is a firm believer that leadership pertains to everybody, not just a select few. On top of pushing the idea of leadership for all, he believes that everybody has the capacity to develop the leader within themselves. Michael is constantly providing insight, thoughts, articles and other resources that will allow you to unlock the leader within you.

Here is a post from Michael dealing with the contrasting principles of being a manager versus a leader:

Lead:ology – Leaders Versus Managers: A False Dichotomy
By Michael McKinney (June 22, 2009)

The 1989 leadership classic On Becoming a Leader contains what has become one of the most discussed and frequently misunderstood concepts in leadership literature. I’m referring to, of course, Warren Bennis’ insightful list of twelve differences between leaders and managers. Before we begin, let me reproduce the list:

• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
• The manager maintains; the leader develops.
• The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
• The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
• The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
• The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
• The manager has an eye always on the bottom line; the leader has an eye on the horizon.
• The manager imitates; the leader originates.
• The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
• The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his own person.
• The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

 Read the rest of the post here.

This is a great example of Micheal’s writing, and I’m sure you been off to read the rest of the post before reading this (if not, now’s the time!)

This post explores an important topic, one I am asked about often, and one that is discussed far too infrequently in leadership development programs.  I agree with with both Micheal and Warren Bennis – the distinction is important, but both sets of skills – both leadership and management are important to organizational and individual success.

Your organizational leadership development will be more effective if you explore both of these skill sets, and using this post as fodder for conversation would be a great place to start.

Vote for Michael of any of the other finalists here.

Tagged as: management, Warren Bennis