What is the difference between management and leadership?

Management is about directing, monitoring, controlling, and administering using a set of guidelines and expected behaviors — it is task-oriented and focused on short-term goals. Leadership is about coaching, motivating, inspiring, guiding, and influencing through discussion and debate — it is a practice focused on long-term vision. A good manager may not be a good leader, and vice versa.

Do project managers need both management and leadership skills?

Yes. Managers are action-oriented, knowledgeable, informed, and tactical, while leaders are visionary, insightful, influential, and strategic. Effective project managers need both skill sets — management skills to plan, organize, and control project work, and leadership skills to motivate the team, build relationships, and drive the project vision.

What type of power do managers vs leaders rely on?

Managers rely on positional powers (Legitimate, Reward, and Penalty) that come from their formal role. Leaders rely on personal powers (Expert and Referent/Charisma) that come from their knowledge, expertise, and personality traits. Personal powers are generally considered more effective for long-term team engagement and motivation.

PM Fundamentals

Leadership

Management vs Leadership

Management and Leadership are often used interchangeably but there are not the same

Key Differences

The key differences between management and leadership are summarized below:

Management is about directing a person from one point to another using a set of guidelines and expected behaviors, whereas leadership is about guiding a person from one point to another through discussion and debate. Note the keywords directing and guiding.
Management is task-oriented. Leadership is a practice.
Management is about directing, monitoring, controlling, and administrating. Leadership is about coaching, motivating, inspiring, guiding, and influencing.
Managers focus on short term goals, whereas leaders focus on long term vision.
Managers rely on positional powers whereas leaders rely on personal powers. Refer to The Powers of the Project Manager for more details.
A good manager may not be a good leader and vice versa.

Managers vs Leaders

Managers	Leaders
Action-oriented	Visionary
Knowledgeable	Insightful
Informed	Influential
Tactical	Strategic

PM Fundamentals

Leadership

Management vs Leadership

Management and Leadership are often used interchangeably but there are not the same

Key Differences

The key differences between management and leadership are summarized below:

Management is about directing a person from one point to another using a set of guidelines and expected behaviors, whereas leadership is about guiding a person from one point to another through discussion and debate. Note the keywords directing and guiding.
Management is task-oriented. Leadership is a practice.
Management is about directing, monitoring, controlling, and administrating. Leadership is about coaching, motivating, inspiring, guiding, and influencing.
Managers focus on short term goals, whereas leaders focus on long term vision.
Managers rely on positional powers whereas leaders rely on personal powers. Refer to The Powers of the Project Manager for more details.
A good manager may not be a good leader and vice versa.

Managers vs Leaders

Managers	Leaders
Action-oriented	Visionary
Knowledgeable	Insightful
Informed	Influential
Tactical	Strategic