G'day Susan, first let me say thank you for taking my shorthand twitter comment and turning it, with a lot of help, into such a thoughtful post. You're quite right, we do tend to use shorthand to make a point, but often the shorthand is misleading.

I think when you are talking internally, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I would add the rider that there are only a certain number of management positions available in an organisation, but leadership can and should be found at all levels.

However I believe that management is a specific business skill developed for the leadership and operation of an organisation. It is a function that is internal to an organisation.

Leadership extends beyond the boundaries of the people within an organisation. Organisations succeed when they lead, and this includes leading customes, consumers, clients, suppliers and other stakeholders.

The solution you propose is excellent, however there are other ways to achieve the same result. I recently wrote a post on thinking differently about the make up of senior management teams in a post on the Corporate Growing Pains website.

I am certainly in no doubt that you need both management and leadership in an organisation and that often they utilise the same skills. I also believe that management without leadership does stifle people, but leadership without management can lead to chaos.

All the best, geoff