Throwback Thursday TBT - Management and Leadership

What's the Difference Between Management and Leadership?

This Throwback Thursday, we're going back to the basics of leadership and management. What's the difference between the two? And why does it matter? 

As Managers, we lead. As leaders, we must manage. But sometimes we may get caught up in one or the other. In our blog, we discuss leadership and management and how you can use the Everything DiSC Work of Leaders profile to increase your abilities in both! 

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Leadership is one of the most researched and published topics over the past 20 years.  Right now, you can walk into almost any book store and find 25-100 books on leadership best practices, tips, tricks, do’s and don’ts.  But how is this different than the topic of management?  Isn't a manager a leader and vice versa?  

Some still think so, but we beg to differ. 

Management and Leadership Differences

You might be thinking, "Wait, is this one of those 'a manager can be a leader, but a leader can’t be a manager' things?"  Not really. Management, in its basic form is progressing throughout the workday with little to no incident.  Most managers work to make sure things stay the same and their employees do their job.  Their primary focus is to oversee the day to day activities of their staff and make sure things run smoothly.  

Continue reading the blog post.

The West Wing: A Lesson in Management Training

The West Wing: A Lesson in Management Training

The company, SongKick, connects you with local bands, concerts and festivals in your area. You can track your favorite bands or find a new favorite band based on your current interests. Not only is their business cool but so is their outlook on management training. 

Read the original article on CBS News: The West Wing: A lesson in Management Training

Songkick is an online music-listing business where bands can promote their gigs and fans can follow artists. It's a smart idea, addressing the frustration most of us feel when we discover, a day too late, that our favorite musicians are playing our town and tickets have already sold out. But what I like even more than the site itself is the way it treats its employees: All new hires are given a video box set of "The West Wing."

Why? "The West Wing" shows teamwork at its finest. Lots of highly committed, smart people argue, yell, flirt and sulk their way through years of demanding, exhausting work. Working in the White House, they're up against insuperable odds -- trying to change America -- and they have only a short time to do it. They understand the difficulty of their mission but are determined to achieve whatever they can.

Full article: West Wing and Management Training

Management and Leadership: What's the Difference?

What's the Difference Between Management and Leadership?

By: Jason Willey 

Leadership is one of the most researched and published topics over the past 20 years.  Right now, you can walk into almost any book store and find 25-100 books on leadership best practices, tips, tricks, do’s and don’ts.  But how is this different than the topic of management?  Isn't a manager a leader and vice versa?  

Some still think so, but we beg to differ.

Management and Leadership Differences

You might be thinking, "Wait, is this one of those 'a manager can be a leader, but a leader can’t be a manager' things?"  Not really. Management, in its basic form is progressing throughout the workday with little to no incident.  Most managers work to make sure things stay the same and their employees do their job.  Their primary focus is to oversee the day to day activities of their staff and make sure things run smoothly.  

Leadership takes it a step further. Leadership is having a “strategic mindset” versus a “day to day mindset.” Leaders develop a vision; they rally the troops and make big things happen.  Leaders push the boundaries, break through barriers and forge new paths!  Leaders find ways to not only meet the goal, but surpass it.  

Effective leaders also have people willingly following them. John Maxwell once said, “If you think you are a leader, but no one is following you, you’re just taking a walk.”   

An easy way to think of the difference between the two is: management is working in a “one to one” relationship, versus leadership, which is a “one to many” relationship.  

Using Work of Leaders to Help Define Management and Leadership

One of our customers, a human resource director from a major quality of life corporation, is currently running an eight month Management Leadership Training (MLT) course with her high level employees.  She is using the Everything DiSC Work of Leaders assessment to help her people understand that leadership is about seeing the big picture and understanding how to effectively move yourself, and your people, to a better place. Telling your employees, "You may be a manager now, but we want you to be a leader tomorrow" has to have a positive effect on their outlook, don't you think?

She says, “The first class in the MLT discusses the difference between Management and Leadership.  You can really see the participants start to grasp the concept of leadership!” The Work of Leaders assessment helps with this and focuses on leadership in three areas: Crafting a Vision, Building Alignment and Champion Execution.  Based on your answers to the assessment, you may have strengths or weaknesses in these areas. Learning this information helps to build self-awareness and most importantly, awareness of the difference between management and leadership.

Learn more about the Everything DiSC Work of Leaders assessment.

Don’t just manage the status quo, strive to be a leader.  Your world needs more leaders!

DiSC 360 Reports - Online 360 Feedback

In a previous post entitled Who’s afraid of the big, bad boss?, I touched a little bit on the Everything DiSC® 363 for Leaders profile as a great way to prevent bad management from plaguing your organization. Since then, I’ve received quite a few questions about this 360 instrument, and I thought a quick blog post was a great place to provide you with answers!

Graph - Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Report

What are the benefits of using a 360 report?

Many of our clients use 360 reports to provide feedback on their leaders from all different angles. Your leader’s staff, supervisors, co-workers and even clients can all assess the leader’s skills, thus providing 360 degrees of personalized feedback. This type of feedback is vital for any leader to better understand their leadership style and make improvements. Like I had mentioned in that Bad Management blog post, bad management is preventable. Providing a leader with constructive feedback from the people they work with allows them to see how they are received by other people.

What makes 363 for Leaders different?

Many of the 360 reports out there are costly, time consuming and extremely complicated to interpret. Some 360’s are so in depth that you need to be certified to use them. Often the feedback is so detailed, that your leader can’t figure out what to do with the information. What’s exciting about the Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders profile is that the leader gets great feedback without the costs or the complication of other 360 surveys. Plus, you don’t need to be certified to administer it. Everything DiSC 363 is a DiSC-based report that uses narrative and graphics to give the leader the information they need to improve.

Why is it called 363 for Leaders if it’s a 360 survey?

The Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders gets its name because of its unique take on a traditional 360 report. Not only do leaders receive detailed feedback from raters, but they also receive “Three Strategies for Development” personalized just for them. The result is a clear road map for success specifically designed for your leader. Thus, the 363 gets its name.

Has it been tested?

Yes. Similar to other DiSC profiles, DiSC 363 has been research-validated by a team of experts. It was tested and developed for more than 3 years, and field tested with over 400 leaders and 3,000 raters. You can read more about the research by viewing our Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Research Validation Report.



Graph - Coaching Supplement

How does it work?

First, you will identify who will be the leader. When you know who will be receiving the 360 profile, identify the raters. These can be co-workers, supervisors, employees, personal friends, neighbors, etc.

The rater categories include:

• Supervisor
• Direct Reports
• Peers
• Other 

Any neat features?

Quite a few!

• "CommentSmart" feedback system allows raters to choose from a pre-selected list of comments. This saves time and avoids unpleasant remarks.
• Unlimited, anonymous raters make it easy to include as many raters as you would like and allows them to feel comfortable responding.
• "Three Strategies for Development" help your leader actively improve their leadership skills.
• Complimentary 363 Coaching Supplement. Each assessment comes with a 5-page coaching supplement to help you understand and review the leader's results along with them.
• Comprehensive report includes personalized narrative, detailed feedback by type of rater, big picture feedback and valuable suggestions for improvement.
• 363 for Leaders reports can be branded with your company name, logo and contact information by using our EPIC Online Administrative Account.

The Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders profile is a great way to bring DiSC into your leadership training. Although the report is extremely detailed, its narrative and visual components make it easy to understand and remember. Check out our Free Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Sample Report and Coaching Supplement Report and see for yourself.

Free Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Sample Report

Free Everything DiSC 363 Coaching Supplement Report

Want to know more?

Register today to attend our upcoming Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders online Product Showcase! Email Corexcel learn@corexcel.com for more information.