MANAGEMENT

Business language in the UK is peppered with the word Management: managers, middle managers, senior managers, quality management, performance management, management development so on.  But what doesn’t appear is a definition of what Management actually is.  It seems, to my mind, to have acquired worrying flexible definitions.

There was a time when the dictionary defined Management as leadership, which, to be clear, it is not.

Management is process driven whereas leadership is relational.

Management is informed by leadership, which is future based.  Management uses the resources available day to day – usually people – to produce the required results.

Management can be defined as the process of achieving results through other people, who are largely instrumental in achieving those results.  This is different from doing things for them and it is inherent in the process that management should add to what others would otherwise do of their own volition.

There is no magic in Management.  Make sure that people know what they are doing and then hold them to account.

As a leader you will be concerned with strategy, how managers do their job is for them to figure out.

The job of being a manager must be carried out effectively if overall results are to be achieved successfully.

Managers focus on the present, on today; leaders focus on tomorrow.

Written by Helen Guinness – The individual is the key.

Co-author Making Management Simple pub. How To Books.