by Charles Ray

Created on: March 29, 2009

When most people complain of poor management within an organization, what they are really complaining about is not management, but leadership (or lack thereof). I am of the opinion that we have some of the best managers in the world in our organizations, but we have really lousy leadership.

That is, given the current state of the American economy, a provocative statement. Allow me to define my terms and demonstrate, though, that it is not poor management, but poor leadership that causes the problem. First, the difference between leadership and management; management is the science of doing things right and efficiently, according to procedures, while leadership is the art of doing the right thing in the first place. As Colin Powell said in his autobiography, "My American Journey," leadership is the art of accomplishing what the science of management says is impossible.

The finance executives who created the sub-prime market mess did their jobs according to procedure, and did them well. Loans were packaged and marketed successfully world wide. Problem is, they lacked the vision to see far enough into the future and determine that these risky financial instruments had the potential to wreck global financial markets. They were focused on the management piece; get it done and out the door; and failed to do the leadership part - should I even be doing this in the first place.

Poor management mucks up the works, but is usually noticed very quickly. If people are not following procedures, or if they are putting Tab B in Slot A, someone usually has a hint; usually it is announced through a downturn in profits, higher rates of on the job accidents, etc. If, however, they are doing the wrong thing, but performing strictly according to accepted procedures, the negative effects often don't manifest themselves until late in the game, and often not in a way that they can be attributed directly to the fact that it was the "wrong" action performed in the"right" way that was the cause.

Poor leadership has a corrosive impact on an organization. It is like the dry rot that destroys a tree from the inside. Often, the results are not seen until the tree crumbles from stress. Poor leadership saps the morale and spirit of every member of an organization, contributing to absenteeism, high rates of turnover and burnout. Organizational credibility is also destroyed by poor leadership. Customers and external stakeholders, when poor leadership becomes apparent, vote with their feet and move away. Poor leadership eventually leads to poor management. When managers - those who must carry out leadership directives - are not motivated by effective leaders, they become complacent and less motivated to worry about carrying out tasks in an effective or efficient manner.

Whether its a government organization or a for-profit company, in the United States we are blessed with a cadre of outstanding managers; people who have been trained to dot the I's and cross the T's. We have, however, a paucity of enlightened, effective leaders who are committed to creating the vision for a brighter future for their organizations and the country. Our obsessive focus on short term gains has created a generation of leaders, public and private, who manage well, but do a lousy job of leading.

Learn more about this author, Charles Ray.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.