Leadership vs. Management

  A few months ago, I attended a presentation that pondered the difference between Leadership and Management.  This is a topic that I have heard and wrestled with for all of my Air Force career and now in my post-AF career.  I think that I might finally be able to define this difference.  Leadership involves investment of Emotional Energy, Management does not. 

  So what do I mean by Emotional Energy?  I mean caring about the mission and people on a personal level.  Carrying mission success above personal success.  Carrying others personal satisfaction as your own.  People who care about an organizations mission, put not only time, but effort and emotional energy into that mission for its success.  We have all seen it - someone who pours their heart into a project. 

  I worked for an organization whose unofficial motto was, "It is amazing what can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit".  This selflessness or investment of emotional energy in others success is leadership.

  By contrast, Management is doing things the right way.  There is some interest in success and disappointment in failure, but usually at an individual level, not an organization or emotional level.

  The other place to see this play out is when people decide to get involved in something outside of work.  They more often than not have an emotional investment in these ideas, ideals, and activities.  We have all seen people who are more depressed about their football team losing a game than they are if a company fails at some project.  They have emotional invesment in their team, but not their company.

  A leader makes and emotional investment in their organization, its mission, and its people.  An effective leader can then convince others to make that emotional investment using a variety of motivational tools and techniques.

  Do not be afraid to make that emotional investment.