Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

I found this quote, by Peter F. Drucker on famous-quotes-and-quotations.com and I thought it was an interesting idea.

In my Management Information Systems class, my professor compared system efficiency and system effectiveness similarly. Efficiency is about doing things right, while effectiveness is about doing the right things. If a system is efficient, it is fast and cheap. It is simple to use and easy to install. Effective systems, on the other hand, do what is right for business. Effective systems attract customers, and enhance productivity. Effective systems are about the long term.

This quote says something similar about leadership. Management is about efficiency. It is about meeting deadlines and delegating and making sure that all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed. It's about doing things correctly, professionally, timely.

Leadership, though, is about something different altogether. Leadership is being a role model. Leadership is about including, and empowering everyone. Leadership is about doing what is right for yourself and for your group.

Nuzhat wrote below about passion. I think that passion is a critical component of leadership which helps it to stand out against management. Managers tell the members of their group what to do to solve a problem. They get the project done. Leaders inspire their peers to feel the same passion that they might feel about a goal. Why would I be a part of a team, if the president is simply barking orders? I’d much rather work with leaders who are driven by passion, and incite that same passion in members of the group. These are the leaders who are not so concerned with the end result of their leading, but are concerned with doing the right things for their group.

-Emily