management or leadership

[wink]

So what do we do in the military, manage or lead? What is the difference anyway? What does the Navy want us to do, lead or manage? I know it is often debated. On the deck plates or in the field it doesn't matter what you call it. I am especially curious to see how our wannabes, cones and nuggets answer vs the fleet guys.

 

[eddie]

You said wannabees...

Way I look at it:

Management: refers to schedualing, administrating, and organizing men/material/activities

Leadership: deciding what course of action to take, and then getting everone to do their job to make it happen (aka.... management)

Management is something that a Leader does.

I think. Boy Scouts is close, but not quite the real world.

 

[SteveG75]

Three little letters to make grown Naval Aviators whimper like small children.

TQL

The mere thought of it makes me want to

then

and

until I decide to

myself into oblivion to erase the horror.

Thank your stars if you are too young to have experienced it.

 

[wink]

Three little letters to make grown Naval Aviators whimper like small children.

TQL

The mere thought of it makes me want to

then

and

until I decide to

myself into oblivion to erase the horror.

Thank your stars if you are too young to have experienced it.

I am not too young to remember TQL, nor the program before that and the one before that, even.

 

[saltpeter]

I lead because I'm a visionary.

 

[bch]

Leadership is 24/7. As a leader you are always leading, even if you don't know it. People are always going to be watching you...IE if he can do it, why can't I? A leader should know his people (their limits, strengths, problems and issues) and strive to enable them when possible and counsel them when necasary.

Management is just handing down guidance on what needs to be done by when.

 

[saltpeter]

Agreed, a leader develops innnovative ways of better accomplishing tasks. A manager simply follows tried and true methods of handling situations and looks to established guidance to answer problems. Where a manager runs into a stumbling block is when there is no established policy to solve a problem and he/she has to devise their own plan and subsequently accept the consequences when they, at times, fall on their own sword. A manager can lay blame on the guidance they follwed to the tee when something goes afoul.

 

[nugget81]

To lead is to show the way by going in advance. (Thank you dictionary.com!) To manage to tell others where to go.

I imagine that officers in the military must do both. At times you must manage and delegate to subordinates. Other times, particularly during wartime, they must lead their men.

 

[BigIron]

Leadership is the intangible. Inspiring and motivating your peers (sometimes bosses), and subs to do what is right. What you do speaks volume over what you say. Some folks are natural leaders and the troops want to work for them. Some people try to lead because of their rank only. They treat their troops like sh@t and are disrespected. People are people, whether they are in the military or not. I think leadership comes down to basic people skills. If you don't have them, you are ineffective as a leader. IMHO of course.

Management is the easy part. You are given a program and expected to administer it. If you can't (because you can't inspire/motivate your people) than you are also ineffective.

Different concepts, but interwoven.

 

[The Chief]

Three little letters to make grown Naval Aviators whimper like small children.

TQL

Not too long ago our Federal Goverment mandated a program of quality improvement. The civilian sector sobriquet was Total Quality Management (TQM), and while I do not know for sure, I will bet TQL ends in leadership. But I think, in essence the same program.

While I do not proclaim to be the expert, one example of a manager needing leadership skills was when a certain Master Chief on an Admiral' staff in DC was assigned a complex, long range project after the O-5 that was leading the project PCS'd. The project was on track and completion depended entirely on JO's (all O-3) working on the project, most of whom assigned to sub-ordinate commands, many had just completed their sea/air tour in Nam. and their short-timer chains were steadily getting shorter. Could not use the Admiral' hammer, negative power will only work once, bribes were useless and pleas for help because "we are buddies" would be laughable.

The project was a success, completed on time, albeit the MC was 6 inches shorter (vertically) at project's end.