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IntroductionDuring the 1990s, the topic of leadership took on new meaning and interest in organizations. As with many business fads (e.g. total quality management, business process reengineering, and knowledge management), the numbers of articles and books on leadership exploded to serve the insatiable appetites of business people, HR practitioners, and the public in general. Interest in the field of management diminished, while people explored such topics as spiritual leadership; the learning organization concept and its implications for shared leadership; women as leaders; lessons from such notable individuals as Gandhi, Thatcher and Churchill; and Native teachings.While the plethora of new books and articles on leadership has contributed in an important way to raising the level of awareness and understanding on the subject, it has also created confusion, and perhaps more importantly, relegated management as a discipline to the back burner. It is only in the past decade where some prominent thinkers and writers have begun to stress the importance of management practices in organizations and the need to integrate this discipline with that of leadership development. While the two are distinct, they are nevertheless interrelated.In a period of discontinuous change (that change is not smooth but rather comes in unpredictable bursts), the interlinking of management and leadership development is extremely important. No longer can organizations afford to address the two fields as separate silos. Instead, a systems approach is required to ensure that an organization’s managers develop good management practices and solid leadership abilities. Combined, the two fields will ensure that those in management positions are able to deal with discontinuous change, and that their staff possess the necessary competencies to learn continuously, explore opportunities, innovate, and serve clients to the highest degree possible.The QuestionBefore an organization jumps into developing a management and leadership development model, it is essential that the question be asked: who is a leader in the organization? Is leadership specific to management positions? If so, then leadership is positional in the organizational hierarchy. Or is leadership seen by senior management as being more inclusive, in which employees throughout the organization are encouraged to develop their leadership abilities?This is a key question to pose because it creates a common vocabulary and set of expectations in an organization. From this will emerge a culture that is defined on how leadership is perceived and practiced.The issue of leadership versus management development becomes a moot point if leadership in an organization is defined as being the domain of management. As we will see below, approaching the two fields as separate entities only further deepens the rift between them, contributing to misunderstandings throughout an organization, the ineffective use of training funds, and limited progress in creating effective managerial leaders.If an organization chooses the path of participative leadership, as it recreates its corporate culture, the challenge will be how to create a model that reflects both management and leadership development. For employees in management positions, there is a rapidly growing need to have an approach (or program) that embraces both management and leadership competencies. For aspiring managers, these employees need to be factored into the process. The urgency for this is rising as the existing management cadre begins to retire in large numbers over the next few years. Those seeking to move into management are the succession pool, and hence require sustained attention in terms of their developmental needs.For employees who do not aspire to be managers, or who will not progress to this level, the added challenge is how to encourage their leadership development, in the context of their participating more in decision-making and in taking more initiative. This assumes that senior management wishes to support the creation of a ‘leaderful’ organization because of the benefits this would bring.The next section looks at what a number of leading thinkers are saying on management and leadership.Management versus LeadershipThe relationship between leadership and management has been described by Kotter (2001) as “…two distinctive and complementary systems of action.” While each field has its own unique characteristics and functions, both are essential for managers if they are to operate successfully in complex organizations that are subject to continuous change. To focus on leadership development may produce strong leaders, but the consequence will be weak management. And the converse is true. How to combine strong leadership and strong management, so that there is balance, is the real challenge.Similarly, Drucker (1998) sees the interrelationship between the two. He does not believe that management and leadership can be separated. He states it is “…nonsense*as much nonsense as separating management from entrepreneurship. Those are part and parcel of the same job. They are different to be sure, but only as different as the right hand from the left or the nose from the mouth. They belong to the same body.”A third perspective is that of Henry Mintzberg, noted for his early empirical work on what managers do. In an interview with CBC’s Ideas in 1999, he explained that managers “…sit between their organizations and the outside world….they manage information in order to encourage people to take action.” Where does leadership fit in his perspectives on organizations? The long lists of attributes and characteristics of leaders leads Mintzberg to state: “…Superman’s abilities are modest in comparison. We list everything imaginable.” For Mintzberg, good leaders are candid, open, honest, and share information with people.From this brief review of what three leading management thinkers have expressed, one outcome facing organizations with respect to their leadership climate may be described as follows: When an individual enters an organization that is functioning well, one is able to sense it. Some call this the “smell of the place”. It becomes very apparent in this type of organizational climate that there is abundant energy present, and that this energy is focused. People enjoy going to work everyday because they understand where they fit into the organization’s vision and what their roles and responsibilities are. They are committed.This is the challenge, therefore, of weaving together the roles of management and leadership so that they form a coherent whole, with respect to how the works get done in organizations. But what can we say about the key distinctions and complementarities between management and leadership?Management & Leadership as FunctionsIncreasingly, managers must deal with complexity in their organizations and the surrounding environment. In the absence of good management practices, organizations fall into chaos, which in turn threatens their survival. Thus, one can say that management brings order to organizations and consistency to their products and services. Leadership, in contrast, involves coping with change. In a world experiencing economic and societal turbulence, this key feature of leadership is becoming increasingly valuable to organizations.These two features, coping with complexity and change, shape the functions of management and leadership. In the real world, therefore, managers have three essential tasks to perform. First, they must determine the work that needs to be done by their staff. Second, to accomplish this work people must work laterally, often forming networks. Managers are conduits to ensuring that this occurs. And third, they must ensure that the work gets done properly and on time.Management and leadership, while both addressing these tasks, approach them from different perspectives.PlanningPlanning, budgeting, and resource allocation are activities initiated through the management function in an effort to address the issue of complexity. As a management process, planning is about producing orderly results, not about change. Leadership, on the other hand, involves creating a vision to chart a course for the organization. As part of this process, strategies are developed to initiate and sustain the needed changes to stay focused on the vision. How this is done is critical to helping move an organization towards its vision.OrganizingTo reach its goals, management organizes and hires. This involves creating an organizational structure, including a set of job descriptions, that will enable the organization to achieve these goals. Through this process of organizing and staffing, management develops delegation authorities and monitoring systems. It also creates communication plans to ensure that employees understand what is taking place.But the management function needs the opposing hand of leadership to assist it, namely in aligning people. Communication becomes a critical activity here, especially in regard to ensuring that all employees understand the vision.ControllingManagement must also ensure that the plan is achieved, and it is does this through controlling and problem-solving. Monitoring plays an important role here. In contrast, leadership requires that people are motivated and inspired to work towards a vision, despite setbacks and unforeseen problems.What does this mean for Management/Leadership Development?This paper has shown that while management and leadership do indeed possess some distinct differences, there is also a complementarity that is emerging. The growth in knowledge work and the expectations of workers (e.g., Generation Y) are strongly influencing how both leadership and management are practices. Work still needs to be planned, organized, directed, coordinated, monitored, etc. But the context is changing rapidly, both from an externally driven, discontinuous change perspective, and from within – the values people possess and what motivates and inspires them.How organizations approach management and leadership development is critical to their eventual success, let alone their long-term survival. And as noted at the outset, one of the first questions that must be asked is “How do we define leadership in our organization?”ReferencesDrucker, Peter. (Sept. 1998). Feature Interview with Peter Drucker. Training & Development Magazine.
Kotter, John. (Reprint Dec. 2001) What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review. pp. 85-87.
Mintzberg, Henry. In Conversation. CBC Ideas. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1999.

It is common practice to appoint new department or school managers from the ranks of successful teachers or trainers or, in industry, engineers or other “production” positions. Such appointees sometimes have had little or no practical management training. This article can then be an important “gift” to such newly appointed managers. It describes brain-friendly, productive management practice. Good managers are good leaders.The basic job of a manager is to help those who report to him or her to be successful at accomplishing their missions. Any manager who acts simply as a “boss and evaluator” is not providing members of his or her team with an environment that encourages maximum productivity. The most effective managers lead their team members with clarified goals and systems, sensitive listening, opportunities for involvement in shaping operations, opportunities for professional growth, and non-intrusive monitoring. A major goal is to give team members help when they need it, not to “catch” them at not succeeding. Solid leadership behaviors are a foundation of good management.Good managers focus on basic needs of team members. Those basic needs are:1. Belonging, 2. Personal power, 3. Freedom, 4. Fun.Let us review each of these in turn.Belonging. Employees can be most productive if they perceive themselves as valued members of a team (department, division, group). A manager-leader can support this perception by:1. Holding periodic coordination meetings to keep everyone thoroughly informed and to give opportunities for feedback, planning revisions, and cooperative discussions.2. Advance discussion with the team or an individual member about possible changes in mission, roles, resources, etc.3. Being conveniently available for discussions of individual ideas or problems.4. Being willing, where possible, to arrange special working conditions to accommodate temporary personal problems of an individual team member (making loyalty a two-way process).Personal power. Team members need to be respected and recognized to maintain their enthusiasm. The manager-leader should work to ensure that:1. Each team member has important tasks that he or she can accomplish.2. Important accomplishments are rewarded with recognition and, where possible, with broadened responsibility or authority and salary progress.3. The ideas and suggestions of each team member are carefully considered and where feasible, used.The above actions show each team member the power of his or her personal effort.Freedom. The manager-leader should give each team member as much authority and freedom to direct his or her own work as possible within school, company or mission guidelines. Having choices and control over one’s own work processes can be a major motivating factor. Second-guessing and over-direction from a manager are major demotivating factors.Fun. The best teachers know that student productivity increases with careful use of down time and relaxation periods. The best managers know that balanced opportunities for relaxation, humor, and socializing are an important part of motivating team members.Now let us review other important factors beyond needs of team members. These include Evaluation, Two Direction Management, Lateral Management and a Special Caution.Evaluation of team members. Evaluation should be a monitoring and helping process. A manager should accompany any constructive criticism with helping suggestions and/or resources. This does not preclude the right to require that some concern or issue be addressed. It simply fulfills the basic management responsibility for helping people to succeed. Also, be sure to allow evaluatees to appeal or explain evaluation issues; give their explanation sincere consideration.A manager shows strength and confidence in himself or herself when he or she decides to change an evaluation because an evaluatee makes a good case for such change. Finally, the entire evaluation process is strengthened if a management-by-objective, participatory process is followed. That process is one of the manager and an evaluatee deciding on objectives and desired performance standards in advance, each contributing to the process. Then the later evaluation can be much more objective because standards have been agreed upon in advance.Two direction management. Previous suggestions have focused on a manager being supportive of his or her members. However, remember the opposite direction. As a manager, another one of your basic tasks is to keep your manager informed – - the no unnecessary surprises principle. That allows your manager to help you and to depend on you. In other words, you are now teaming in two directions – - with your team members and with your manager. Expect this same no-surprise principle from your team members. It helps to tie an organization together.Lateral management. Whenever possible help and cooperate with your management peers, for example, other department chairpersons. Again, expect this lateral help among your team members and from your team members to those on other teams. If everyone in an organization accepts the basic task of being helpful when possible to anyone else in the organization, the culture of belonging gets even stronger. Organization productivity can go even higher.A special caution on your manager. Before you take a management position, have a two-way discussion on these suggestions with your prospective manager. If he or she does not agree with some of the basic principles in this article, think carefully before you accept an appointment. For example, if your prospective manager does not plan to give you a significant degree of freedom and authority, you will find it far more difficult to grant such to those who work for you! If your prospective manager does not see evaluation as a helping rather than a do-it-to-you process, it will be more difficult for you to emphasize helping.If your prospective manager “never changes his evaluations” when such are appealed or explained, he or she is not someone who listens carefully to others; that could leave you treated and evaluated unfairly in a new management position. If you do accept a management role under a manager with beliefs or habits that could undercut your effectiveness, do so with full recognition that such managers tend to blame the results of their brain-unfriendly practices on others; you could become one of those others. Avoid such managers if possible. Certainly do not become that type of manager yourself.Summary of main points. Here are summary lists of some brain-friendly (good) and brain-unfriendly (bad) management practices. The numbering in each list is related to the other list. Work at using the good practices and avoiding the bad ones.Brain-friendly/Good Management Practices:1. Clarify mission and goals.2. Listen carefully to others.3. Involve your team members in planning and decision-making in a management system.4. Provide your team members with professional growth or learning opportunities.5. Use monitoring data to help your team members succeed.6. Hold coordination meetings. Keep everyone informed.7. Be conveniently available for individual discussions.8. Be willing to arrange temporary special working conditions to help individuals with special personal problems.9. Define meaningful tasks; recognize and reward progress on same.10. Consider and use suggestions from team members when feasible.11. Give team members as much freedom and authority as you can to direct their own work.12. Support balanced opportunities for breaks, relaxation, socializing, humor, and fun.13. Emphasize the helping and encouragement aspects of evaluation.14. Keep your manager supported and informed (no surprises).15. Promote lateral helping between peers.16. Evaluate the philosophy of your prospective manager before taking a job as a new manager.Brain-unfriendly/Bad Management Practices:1. Assume that team members know their mission and goals.2. Emphasize telling those who work for you what to do.3. Emphasize telling those who work for you what to do.4. Let team members shift for themselves on professional growth.5. Evaluate at the end of tasks; do not “bother” folks until then.6. Emphasize memos to tell team members what to do.7. Restrict your availability for individual meetings.8. Enforce the same working conditions and rules for everyone at all times.9. View solid performance as normal and expected, not deserving of specific recognition.10. Emphasize telling those who work for you what to do.11. Require team members to do things exactly the way you define.12. Concentrate on work and production at all times.13. Use evaluation to “shape-up” others and to tell them what to do.14. Do not give extra information to your manager; just answer when questions are asked.15. Keep focused on individuals doing their job and not on them being concerned with others in the organization.16. Do not be concerned with the habits or beliefs of your prospective manager. You cannot do anything about those.And now, good luck with the responsibility and the fun of helping others to succeed! Following that theme can make management positions very rewarding.