Practicing Management and Leadership: Vision, Strategy, Operations, and Tactics

In the national Public Health Leadership Institute, which we manage, we are often asked to answer the question, "What is the difference between leadership and management?" Much has been written on the subject. For example, Warren Bennis, a noted "leadership guru," stated that "leadership is doing the right thing, management is doing things right."1 In his book, Leading Change, Kotter2 makes useful distinctions between what leaders and managers do: leaders develop vision and strategy, managers implement plans and execute budgets. Good leaders-at whatever level in an organization-achieve balance between leading and managing. Copyright © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health.