Leader-Manager Continuum
Part of resources for church leaders on Church Administration, Christian Leadership, and Church Leadership, Empowerment, and Transformational Leadership.
Most literature in leadership in general and Christian leadership in particular draws a distinction between leadership and management. This is not because the two are opposed to each other, but because the practice of management does not necessarily accomplish leadership and vice verse. Listed below are a few resources that help to explain the difference between these two currencies and show how to properly integrate them. They are listed in order of helpfulness for church leadership and church administration.
- Ian Fair, Leadership in the Kingdom — Chapters 6 and 10 apply to church leadership the concepts of leadership vs. management and effectiveness vs. efficiency.
- Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. 2nd Edition — Perhaps the most widely quoted contemporary authors in drawing the distinction between leadership and management. See especially Chapter 2, “Leading Others, Managing Yourself,” where they make their classic statement, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing…[which manifests] the difference between activities of vision and judgment — effectiveness, versus activities of mastering routines — efficiency.” (20)
- John P. Kotter, Leading Change – The idea of management vs. leadership is articulated best in the opening sections of the book (see pp. 25-31, especially the chart on “Overmanaged, Underled Corporate Culture”) and is integrated throughout the book.
- Abraham Zaleznik, Leaders and Managers: Are They Different? (HBR Classic)– A reprint of the classic article from Harvard Business Review that is the basis for the current distinction between leadership and management.
- Craig R. Hickman, Mind of Manager, Soul of a Leader —Not targeted to church leaders, but some sections may be useful.
- Essential Managers Series —This is a European-produced set of guides to all areas pertaining to leadership and management. They may not be top consults for church leaders, but the checklists, charts, diagrams, and bullet-lists will simplify common managerial tasks.
Other Ministry Resources on Church Administration:
- Church Administration, General Manuals
- Church Building, Church Design, Church Architecture
- Stewardship of Church Money, Church Finance
- Church Giving, Tithing, and Stewardship
- Management – Leader-Manager Continuum
- Church Marketing, Church Communication, Church Advertising
- Church Staff and Ministry Evaluation
Related Resources Church Leaders:
- Change and Transition for Church Leaders
- Conflict in Church
- Church Leadership, Church Health and Renewal
- Elders, Plural-Elder Church Leadership
- Elders, Policy Governance Models for Church Leaders
- Christian Leadership
- Managing Volunteers
- Ethics for Christian Leadership in the Church
- Church Staff, Ministry Staff, Ministry Teams
- Pastoral Theology for Church Leaders
See Ministry Resources on Over 100 Areas of Christian Leadership: