Good Leaders Understand Relationships

What is the difference between management and leadership?

I ask this question as an icebreaker whenever I am teaching a class on leadership to grad school students. I use the question to get the students engaged and (hopefully) get their creative juices flowing. My question is not anecdotal—I call on at least five students every class to share their thoughts. I also assure them that I am not looking for a textbook definition, I just want to see what they think.

Some students take an easy path. Since they know that I am there to discuss leadership, they make an argument that management is “bad,” while leadership is “good.” When somebody inevitably goes in that direction, I remind them that some of history’s most effective leaders have been truly evil people: Leadership is neither inherently good nor bad.

After I’ve been successful in getting a real discussion going, I share my thoughts, and it usually goes something like this: “In its simplest form, management is just making stuff happen. Leadership is influencing people to make stuff happen. You can add complexity to the definition with all sorts of qualifiers ranging from organizational goals to vision, but the key idea is this: People may be part of any management situation, but they are the critical component of any leadership equation. At its core, leadership is about people and relationships.”

Wise leaders understand this idea and do everything they can to understand themselves and others. Better understanding leads to an increased potential for influence.

RELATIONSHIPS: THE CORE OF LEADERSHIP

I recently addressed the national convention of AMSUS, the Society of Federal Health Professionals, and my theme was all about people and the criticality of relationships in any leadership situation. I even told the story of my relationship with then-Petty Officer Wayne “Doc” Bailey and how he tirelessly worked to save numerous lives during my second deployment to Iraq. Doc was the youngest member of our small team embedded with the Iraqi Special Police Commandoes, but he was easily the most valuable member. In addition to saving lives, Doc taught the commandoes lifesaving skills for combat, which could help them learn how to save lives when U.S. medical personnel were not present during a fight. His deep concern and care for those he served with inspires me to this day, nearly 20 years later. People are at the core of every leadership equation, and effective leaders understand that.