I recently had the opportunity to write a short post for an publication edited by <a title="David Burkus on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/davidburkus" target="_blank">David Burkus</a> of <a title="The LeaderLab" href="http://theleaderlab.org/" target="_blank">LeaderLab</a> titled Lead(or) Manage.  The topic is the dreaded Leaders vs. Managers discussion.  As David said in the introduction to the document, Warren Bennis started this discussion by stating,  "<em>Managers do things right; Leaders do the right thing."</em>

Eighteen great authors and I contributed to the paper.  Spend a little time reading the entire document.  There are insights from several Lead Change members including Burkus, <a title="Shawn Murphy on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/shawmu" target="_blank">Shawn Murphy</a>, <a title="Jane Perdue on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/thehrgoddess" target="_blank">Jane Perdue</a>, <a title="Nicole De Falco on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/ndefalco" target="_blank">Nicole De Falco</a>, &amp; <a title="Mike Myatt on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/mikemyatt" target="_blank">Mike Myatt</a>.  There are other well-known leadership authors involved, such as<!--more--> David Zinger and Marshall Goldsmith.  Many articles were by people I had not read before but their articles were engaging, informative and well thought out.  In all the paper is a great experience.

<em>Management</em> is a noble pursuit, however.  The existence of an argument seems to imply that it's not.  Lately many in the <em>leadership</em> world use the term as Bennis did, to emphasize the control, task oriented side of leadership. That's not very fortunate.  Maybe this is more of a continuum than an either-or argument.

Anyway, rather than let me make up your mind, check out the paper over at LeaderLab.  Then, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the issue as well.  Are the two things exclusive?  Or must they coexist?