The terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ are often used interchangeably, but they are actually two distinct concepts and skills within your toolkit as a manager.
At this month’s Manager Briefing, we were joined by Michelle Morrison, Director, Organisation Capability and Linda Neitz, Senior Manager, Organisational Development and Learning, who led an interactive session on what the terms mean to us and when best to apply them at Monash Health.
So, what are ‘management’ and ‘leadership’?
Management typically refers to the process of planning, organising and coordinating in order to achieve specific goals. Within our organisation, it can involve tasks such as rostering, delegating tasks, monitoring progress, and ensuring that work is completed.
On the other hand, leadership includes the ability to inspire, motivate, and guide others towards a shared vision, instilling purpose and value in what we do. Within a healthcare setting, there is a significant body of research that suggests that leadership has a positive impact on organisational performance. Effective leadership can enhance the patient safety culture, patient experience, job satisfaction and intention to stay at the employer. It’s also known to foster organisational commitment and deeper connection within teams.
We asked those managers attending the Manager Briefing what words they found synonymous with ‘management’ and ‘leadership’ and this is what they said.
Management is…
Leadership is…
So, which skill do I use at which time?
When deciding whether to use management or leadership, it’s important to consider the situation you’re faced with. If you’re dealing with a problem that requires a structured and methodical approach, such as improving operational efficiency or reducing costs, then management may be the most appropriate approach.
However, if your team is facing a complex or uncertain challenge that requires creativity, courage, innovation, and adaptability, such as workload pressures, or the frequent changes throughout the pandemic, then leadership may be needed. Situational leadership is also important; new starters and established performers may need very different things and it’s important to ask our team members what they need from us.
In some cases, both management and leadership may be required to achieve the desired outcome, and it’s important to balance the two approaches accordingly.
Improving your leadership skills
Improving your leadership skills can come through a mixture of experience, exposure to other strong leaders and formal education and learning.
The Leadership Development Hub on Latte contains bite-sized, curated content for you to watch, listen to, or use with your teams. Our Intentional Leadership Couse is underway and keep an eye out for more information on our Frontline Leadership course, which is launching soon.
Part of strong leadership is to align people towards a common goal and importantly, how everyone will work together to achieve it. At the Manager Briefing, Michelle spoke about the Team Charter, available on the Leadership Development Hub, as another tool you can use with your teams to foster this shared sense of commitment and purpose.
For more information on leadership development opportunities, please visit Latte.
Approved by Chris McLoughlin