Leadership vs. Management

What differentiates leadership from management is a common question in leadership development.

One of my favorite articles that details the differences is by John P. Kotter entitled "What Leaders Really Do." 

http://web.sau.edu/richardsrandyl/what%20leaders%20really%20do_kotter.pdf

Kotter notes that they are two distinctive yet complementary systems of action, and both are necessary for success. 

Leadership -- Coping with change

• Setting a direction
• Developing a vision and stragies to achieve it
• Communicating vision - motivating and inspiring
• Aligning people

Management -- Coping with complexity to bring order and consistency

• Use planning and budgeting
• Setting targets and allocating resources
• Organizing and staffing
• Monitoring implementation

Each system involves deciding what needs to be done and creating networks of people  and relationships that are capable and ensure that they accomplish the task.

I would say that great leaders need integrity and strong interpersonal and communication skills for the very reason that they need followers.

Having led for 15 years of my career without a business degree and then finally getting one, I advocate for leaders to learn management skills-  it makes you significantly more effective.  My big "ahas" in b-school revolved around management, not leadership:

Strategy - Frameworks for understanding organizational strengths and weaknesses and managing change
Project management -  Framework for keeping on target to execute all the great plans!
Six Sigma -  Framework for process improvement and repeatable, transparent processes
Supply Chain Management - Optimizing performance
Systems Thinking -  Why knowing a little about Accounting/Finance, HR, Logistics, Information Technology, Training, Operations, etc. and the related dependencies makes for a more corporate manager and leader.

So is it better to have weak leadership and strong management or strong management and weak leadership?