Glad to read a valiant defence of 'management'.  All too often Leadership is glorified and Management is vilified.  Part of the blame lies with Warren Bennnis whose popular book 'On Leadership' painted distinctions that portrayed Management in adverse light (see my post 'Bennis Revisited' - http://brucelynnblog.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B5C035B7809F740A!232.entry..  Most of the distinctions were not the domain of 'Management' per se, but rather simply 'Bad Leadership'.

My own perspective is that 'Leaders optimise upside opportunity; Manager minimise downside risk.  Both are needed in appropriate combination to achieve optimal results.'