Leadership vs. Management: What's the Difference?

Today I read the article comparing Leadership and Management. One thing I took away from the article is the need for both managers and leaders in any kind of work setting. I personally think managers sometimes lose the personal aspect of working with others. Many times managers are task oriented and they do not inspire those working under them to want to achieve more. One of the sections says that leaders are "Salespeople". I have never thought of leadership in that way, but it is true. A good leader really sales the idea of progress. A good leader inspires people to buy into their ideas. The article also mentions that managers are controllers. "Controllers" has a negative connotation with it but if you continue reading the article says, " A Manager never loses focus of monitoring results, trends, and resources, striving always to meet or exceed professional goals". As a student supervisor I think it is important that we are controllers. We should have control of the situation and always be observant of things around us that are changing in order to meet the needs of patrons. I really like the section that says leaders are visionaries. It talks about leaders anticipating the future. A leader maintains a current knowledge of how things are, but always looks to the future and has in mind what changes may be best for the organization. I think this is important for us as student supervisors. We need to be aware of everything going on around us, but also be looking forward, thinking of things that might improve the library and how we operate. I think this article is pretty helpful. I think it is important for me to strive to have the characteristics of both a Leader and a Manager because I think the library needs both.