In my upcoming book, I share a couple of definitions of instructional leadership.

“When those in a leadership position focus on implementing practices that will increase student learning.” (DeWitt, P. 2020, pg. 10)

“The practice of making and implementing operational and improvement decisions.” (Baeder, J., 2018, pg. 2)

Both definitions imply that both leadership and management skills are necessary for leading a school toward excellence.

However, in my fifteen years as a educational administrator, I have learned there is a difference between the two.

Leadership is visible and management is invisible.

Leadership is about decision-making. People will make a case to you for one choice or another, and respond when a decision is made. Who do we hire for this position? Which literacy resource should we go with for curriculum acquisition? Should this staff member be on a plan for improvement? Sometimes the decision is shared, but the leader is always responsible.

Conversely, management is about processes and systems. How is student attendance monitored? Are we consistent with discipline procedures? How do we talk to encourage honest and authentic discourse? Technology, handbooks, and collaborative norms (respectively) all guide this work. And we only notice management when the processes and systems don't work.

And yet here's the thing:

Leadership and management are dependent on each other.

An example is a basketball game.

• The coaches and players are the leaders: they are constantly making decisions about which plays to run and shots to take.

• The referees and rules are management: they allow the leaders to play the game successfully.

So, while it might helpful to contrast the two concepts to understand both, one cannot exist without the other for supporting successful organizations.