If you had the opportunity to design a degree
program in business management, what areas of study would you highlight?
For me there are several but one for sure would be to dispel
our modern notion that leaders and managers are different people in the
organization. This is rarely the case as
most organizations simply don't have the resources to hire people who are
solely leaders or solely managers. So by necessity, highly successful people in
the organization are those who can shift in and out of the roles of managing
and leading as their ever changing landscape requires.
Certainly there are significant differences between leading
and managing and we talk about those at length.
I want my students to graduate with an appreciation of both roles so
they can do well in whatever challenge they may pursue, in whatever role they
may need to fulfill at the time.
I have long been a fan of leadership studies going back to
the mid 1980's. I know this won't sit
well with some but I fear we have cannibalized the study of management for the
sake of placing leadership on a pedestal.
There is room enough on the pedestal for the appreciation of both
studies as there is capacity enough in an individual to be both a manager and a
leader.
