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In This Episode:
You’ve probably seen it: “Management is about doing things right; leadership is about doing the right things.” It’s catchy, often credited to Peter Drucker, and it sounds profound. But it sets up a false split between managing and leading that ends up hurting managers and confusing what leadership actually is. This episode breaks down why the quote falls short and what leadership and management actually are.
What You’ll Learn
- Why leadership is a skill anyone can learn regardless of position, while management is a position with a defined set of duties, not a skill in itself
- Why you can’t be a good manager without also being a good leader
- Why treating “leadership” and “management” as opposites has fed a wave of “leaders are angels, managers are villains” content that isn’t accurate
- Why doing the right thing and doing it well aren’t a tradeoff, you need both, using the analogy of hiking in the right direction versus hiking well
Resources Mentioned
Quote Investigator’s research on the origin of “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things” (traced most directly to Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989, where Covey credits both Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis): https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/04/09/doing-right/