Management and Leadership Abilities: An analysis of texts, testimony and practice

By Lew Perren and John Burgoyne

The analysis of management and leadership abilities that is reported here provides a backdrop for much of the Council's work. So often it seems that discussions of management and leadership dissolve into definitional and philosophical battles leaving the perpetrators too tired to take useful action. The Council has been criticised by some of not providing precise definitions of management and leadership; indeed some have called for clear separation of these terms. While others have said that precise definitions and detailed lists of abilities are reductionist and unhelpful; indeed some want to forget such matters and get on with things .

This report is unlikely to please the extremes of either the philosophical or pragmatic camps, but it is hoped that it will appeal to majority of people who recognise that some understanding of the abilities that constitute management and leadership is needed. For some this report will be an analysis of tangible measurable abilities that are needed by managers and leaders, for others it will be an analysis of the ethereal discussion of abilities. Nothing we are going to say in such a brief report is likely to transform a reader's ingrained belief about such matters, so we anticipate a broad range of interpretations being placed on this work . Indeed, as this research has progressed we have found ourselves changing our view of the project; we console ourselves with the knowledge that the general approach adopted appears to provide a robust platform for different forms of interpretation .

Now we have introduced the background to the research, we will move on to explain the approach taken and then to present the resulting management and leadership framework. At the end of the paper we will explore the implications of the framework.