Chapter 2 – Leadership versus Management

Leadership versus Management

The Fundamental Distinction

Management is both art and science – the practice of motivating individuals to achieve established goals through planning, staffing, environment creation, and balancing stakeholder needs with fiscal responsibility. Leadership, in contrast, is the art of inspiring others toward common goals through creating vision, developing strategy, and motivating action.

The ancient warrior Tamerlane illustrates this distinction perfectly. Rather than merely commanding his troops to “take that city” (management), he inspired them by crying “follow me to take that city” (leadership). While his ruthless campaigns aren’t morally exemplary, they clearly demonstrate the leadership principle of inspiring through personal example rather than directive.

Historical Perspectives on Leadership

Classical Foundations

Homer’s Odyssey explores this distinction through Ulysses, who displayed leadership brilliance in devising the Trojan Horse strategy but showed questionable management of his men during their decade-long journey home. He prioritized personal success over his men’s wellbeing – a clear example of leadership without effective management.

Evolving Definitions

Leadership definitions have evolved from early concepts of being a “nucleus of a tendency” (Cooley, 1902) to “preeminence of individuals in controlling societal phenomena” (Mumford, 1906). Schenk (1928) distinguished leadership from “drivership” – compelling obedience through coercion – defining leadership instead as persuasion and inspiration.

The Power Framework

By the mid-20th century, leadership power was categorized into five types:

• Referent: Following based on admiration and relationship
• Expert: Authority from specialized knowledge or skills
• Reward: Ability to provide benefits
• Coercive: Persuasion through threats or force
• Legitimate: Authority derived from position or inherent qualities

These foundations reveal that while power enables leadership implementation, sustainable leadership comes from referent, expert, reward, or legitimate power rather than coercion.

The Authentic Leader

Despite 50+ years and over 1,000 studies seeking to define the ideal leader, no definitive profile exists (George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, 2007). Instead, authentic leadership emerges from one’s life story and experiences, which provide context for leadership decisions and approaches.

Leadership effectiveness isn’t measured by intention but by results. Bass (1961) distinguished between attempted leadership – trying to influence others – and successful leadership – actually achieving that influence. A military leader whose troops lose battles or a corporate leader whose strategies fail to generate profit cannot claim successful leadership, regardless of their intentions.

Contextual Leadership

By 1933, Case proposed leadership as the convergence of three elements: personal traits, group dynamics, and the specific challenges faced. This expanded view recognized that leadership isn’t solely about the leader but involves followers and context – a concept that evolved into situational leadership theory, which holds that different circumstances require different leadership approaches (Wildavsky, 2005).

Moses exemplifies this contextual flexibility, employing different leadership approaches when confronting Pharaoh, guiding Israelites across the sea, breaking the Ten Commandments in righteous anger, and transferring leadership to Joshua. His effectiveness stemmed from both his compelling story (his upbringing) and his results orientation.

Leadership Development

Leadership emerges to fill organizational needs. As Wildavsky (2005) notes, most leaders begin with small beneficial acts that build credit they can later leverage for influence. Leaders are builders and risk-takers who maintain ownership of their vision despite challenges.

Christopher Columbus exemplifies this ownership principle. Despite dwindling morale and near-mutiny, he maintained his goal of finding a faster trade route to the East. His journey demonstrates how leadership requires assuming both risk and potential rewards.

The ship captain metaphor perfectly illustrates leadership necessity. A vessel at sea requires unified command for survival – a microcosm of society under existential stress. Without leadership, critical decisions are delayed or abandoned, endangering everyone. While this “dictatorship” is essential during the journey, it appropriately dissolves upon reaching port.

Biblical Management Models

Servant Leadership

In biblical terms, loyal followers were called servants (eved in Hebrew). Eliezer exemplifies this role through his faithful service to Abraham (Genesis 24), completing his master’s commands without deviation despite potential personal loss.

The Bible portrays Moses not primarily as a leader but as the Lord’s servant (eved Adonai in Hebrew), referenced in Deuteronomy 34:5 and Joshua 1:1. The text repeatedly shows the Lord leading the people directly (Exodus 13:17-21, 17:1, 40:36) with Moses implementing divine directives rather than creating independent strategies.

This relationship evolved as Moses gained experience. Initially, the Lord had to command (tzaveh in Hebrew) Moses (Exodus 6:1, 2, 10, 13), but later simply spoke (daber in Hebrew) to him throughout the ten plagues (Exodus 7:1, 7:26, 8:1, etc.), suggesting Moses had internalized his role.

The plagues narrative further illustrates this distributed implementation approach. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron (Exodus 7:2), who both followed these commands (7:6, 7:10, 7:20). Sometimes Aaron acted independently (8:2, 8:13), sometimes the Lord acted directly (8:20, 9:6), and sometimes Moses acted alone (9:23, 10:13, 10:22). The final plague the Lord executed personally (12:12, 12:29).

Moses at times distanced himself from the people, referring to them as “your people” rather than “our people” when addressing the Lord (Exodus 33:12-13), and even blamed them for his inability to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:26, 4:21). This separation illustrates the complex relationship between biblical managers and those they lead.

The Nature of Power

Power – the capacity to compel cooperation toward goals – ultimately derives from coercion, either implicit or explicit. Biblical examples contrast organizational power (formal authority) with legitimate power (earned authority).

Pharaoh represented organizational power through his position, while Moses initially possessed organizational power from his palace upbringing but abandoned it to protect his people. Moses later received legitimate power through divine appointment and demonstrated expert power in his unique ability to communicate with the Lord.

In his book Power: Why some people have it – and others don’t, Jeffrey Pfeffer argues that effective power comes from balancing strength with justice. Biblical figures received power through various means – divine appointment (Moses), experience and action (Joshua), maternal intervention (Solomon), or deception (Absalom). However, those lacking divine support eventually lost their power, as with Ahab and Jezebel who ignored Elijah’s warnings.

Beyond Power: The Essence of Leadership

True leadership transcends mere power acquisition. As Collins and Porras observed with 3M’s William McKnight, great leaders often display humility while focusing on accomplishment rather than personal aggrandizement. Moses similarly demonstrated humility, even asking to have his name removed from the Bible if the Lord wouldn’t forgive his people.

Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People identifies core leadership practices reflected throughout biblical narratives:

1. Being proactive: Joshua served Moses throughout the desert journey, preparing for future leadership.
2. Beginning with the end in mind: The Promised Land vision guided Israel through 40 years of wilderness.
3. Putting first things first: Moses maintained focus on the Lord’s priorities, including Tabernacle completion.
4. Thinking win-win: Abraham sought mutual benefit in the war of four and five kings, refusing spoils to maintain relationship integrity.
5. Seeking first to understand: Joseph listened carefully to Pharaoh’s dreams before offering interpretation.
6. Synergizing: The Israelites’ desert formation with defined roles for judges, elders, and priests created hierarchical efficiency.
7. Renewal: The Talmud and Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) emphasize work-life balance and avoiding excess.

Leadership and Management Ethics

Ethics – the system of moral principles governing conduct – in Western civilization traces to the Ten Commandments, particularly the five commandments addressing human relationships. The ethical foundation of leadership impacts both strategic and tactical decisions.

Modern ethical management, according to McNamara’s Complete Guide to Ethics Management, emphasizes fairness, individual responsibility, clear organizational purpose, integrity, aligned rewards, prevention of ethical lapses, transparent decision-making, and forgiveness.

Biblical ethics sometimes diverge from contemporary standards. For example, nepotism – Moses appointing Aaron as priest – appears ethically acceptable in biblical contexts though problematic in modern corporate settings.

Deliverables

This chapter establishes that while leadership and management are distinct, they frequently overlap in practice. Leadership involves inspiration, vision, and goal-setting; management involves implementation, organization, and execution. The Bible primarily portrays the Lord as the ultimate leader, with human figures serving as managers implementing divine directives.

Understanding this distinction enables readers to:

1. Identify Leadership Elements: Recognize visionary, inspirational components that motivate collective action toward shared goals.
2. Develop Management Skills: Cultivate practical abilities in planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling to implement vision effectively.
3. Balance Authority Approaches: Learn when to inspire through example (leadership) versus when to direct through structure (management).
4. Recognize Contextual Requirements: Understand how different situations demand varying combinations of leadership and management, as demonstrated by Moses’ adaptable approaches.
5. Establish Ethical Frameworks: Develop principles for decision-making that balance organizational needs with moral imperatives, drawing from both biblical wisdom and contemporary ethical understanding.

These practical applications provide a foundation for examining biblical management examples throughout subsequent chapters, recognizing that even the most prominent biblical figures primarily served as managers implementing the Lord’s leadership vision.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you believe there are true “leaders” in the Bible other than the Lord? If so, who and why?
2. What qualifies biblical figures as leaders versus managers? What arguments suggest they might not be true leaders?
3. What examples of power abuse appear in the Bible?
4. What examples of exceptional ethical action can you identify in biblical narratives?
5. What examples of poor ethical choices appear in biblical accounts?
6. How do contemporary leaders compare to biblical figures in their approaches and moral foundations?
7. How important is reputation to effective management? The Lord repeatedly emphasized that Egyptians should “know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 7:3-5, 14:18). What value does name recognition provide in leadership contexts?
8. How crucial is integrity to leadership effectiveness? When Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites, he honored his oath despite the deception (Joshua 9:18-19). Would you have made the same decision? How would this principle apply in modern business contexts?
9. Which leadership trait do you consider most essential and why? Character, track record, capability development, energy, vision, courage, inspiration, compassion, relationship-building, change management, composure under pressure, or institutional development?
10. Research suggests physical attractiveness impacts executive advancement and earnings (estimated at $230,000 lifetime advantage). Did appearance influence biblical leadership effectiveness? Should appearance matter in leadership contexts?