The difference between leadership and management is a fine line. Perhaps this is why so many Christians who have been designated as leaders–in the church, a ministry or missions organization, or a parachurch organization–get involved in management and fail to exercise real leadership. What is the difference?
Earlier this month I received a daily email (from MinEmergent) with a quote from Florin Paladie. Paladie says that one difference between management and leadership is that leadership involves initiative.
“Initiative is…a key differentiator between leaders and managers. Leaders are risk takers; they have a vision of how things could be and they take the initiative to bring it about. Managers take care of things, maintaining the status quo. They make sure systems work well.
What will you do today? Churches, families, and every organization need management. Details must be handled, “things” must be done. Established systems have to be maintained. In one sense, management is easy. The tasks are defined, the demands are limited, and all one has to do to succeed is keep the machinery oiled so everything will keep on operating as it has always operated. Good management is sometimes evaluated by whether anything go wrong. Some people are very good at management and are a blessing because of their management skills.
Churches, families, and organizations also need leaders. We must do more than avoid things going wrong. We must proactively move toward the future and make things happen that have never happened before. Leadership is more than making sure that things work better than they have ever worked before. Leaders have a “dream job”–not that it is easy, but that leadership involves dreaming. Someone must develop a vision of how things should be and can be, and cast that vision broadly. Someone must step up, articulate the vision and take the first bold step as a risk-taker. Someone must see things that are not and ask why they cannot be.
Families, churches, and Christian organizations are thirsting for genuine leadership. Many organizations are stuck in the boredom and stagnation of management because no one exercises leadership. Pray today about whether God is calling you to be a leader–in the church or in the Christian parachurch organization you are involved with.