Educational Leadership

  “Manage things… lead people”

To lead or to manage? Which of the two is important in operating a school? Why is it important to understand the difference between the two? How does it matter?

These questions sound interesting, aren’t they? These are the most common questions that strike everyone’s mind. Operating a school doesn’t only require effective teachers and prepared learning environment, but most of all it needs an effective school head. A principal who can manage things and at the same time lead people.  One of the school’s thrust is to provide the best possible education to all learners. In order to fulfill this objective, good leaders and managers in the person of the school head must be hired by the school.

Leadership and management in the field of education might sound similar since both have its common goal which is to provide the best education to all clientele. However, leadership and management have differences in some aspects. One aspect is on the way they motivate people who work or follow them. Managers, by definition, have subordinates. These subordinates work for them and largely do as they are told. The manager tells the subordinate what to do, and the subordinate does this not because they are a blind robot, but because they have been promised a reward for doing so. On the other hand, a leader doesn’t have a subordinate. They don’t give formal authority to anybody because for them to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity.

As the old proverb says, “Leadership is doing the right thing while management is doing things right.” When a leader tries to do something, he uses his heart. Manager on the other hand, uses his head to provide a good result. Leaders have no specific formula in leading people. It comes naturally in them. They have vision for their organization. They don’t care about the salary they will get  from their work, rather they are after on the success of the school activities and programs. Whereas, managers follow certain procedure in accomplishing certain activities. Planning, staffing, organizing and evaluating are the things to consider in management. Mostly managers are perfectionist. They don’t want any mistakes or failures in the process of implementing the project. 

Leadership and management are both important. They have certain attributes that are needed in operating a school. We need leaders who have the vision, character, charisma and commitment in accomplishing the school’s aims which are encapsulated in the vision or mission statement of the school. We need also managers who have the potential in doing tactical activities and organizing people to accomplish tasks. Mostly managers have high intelligence quotient while leaders have high emotional quotient. These are the reasons why we need a principal who are good leaders and at the same time good managers so that quality education can be given to all learners.