When and Why “Management” Became a Dirty Word

“Managers do things right, leaders do the right things.”

This quote is attributed to Peter Drucker, but I have been unable to find it in his writings, and, having known Peter many years ago, I doubt that he would have said it. Once, when he was speaking to my undergraduate class, a student asked him to define “leadership.” Peter’s response was, “As Professor Riggio knows, I don’t believe in leadership.” He went on to give his definition of “Management,” which sounded a lot like most definitions of leadership, circa the late 1990s (even the students in the class noticed this).

Yet, the quote makes sense today. Management is seen as something inferior to leadership. Supervisors want to be recognized as a “leader,” not a mere manager. Peter Drucker had a distrust of those with the label of “leader” (think “Fuhrer”; he fled Nazi Germany in 1933). Drucker believed that "manager" was a noble profession – consistent with why his definition of “manager” was so positive.

I noticed this change in myself over the decades. When I was out consulting and someone asked me what I was doing, I often said, “I’m a management consultant.” If they probed further, I would say, “I try to help managers make the workplace better.” More recently, I say I work in “leadership development.” (Of course, most of the time I say “I’m a college professor.”)

What led to this change?

Two things are clear: (1) we have what Jim Meindl and his colleagues (1985) call a “Romance of Leadership” – we put leaders on a pedestal, view them positively, and pay them huge salaries; (2) far too many supervisors are terrible; they are overly controlling, punitive, and simply not good at leading – and they are labeled as our “managers.” As the opening quote suggests, managers keep tabs on things and enforce rules; leaders are focused on the higher purpose. A combination of these two factors causes many in supervisory roles to strive to be leaders, not mere managers. In fact, becoming a leader and leadership development have become a major industry, in business, in sports, and in education (from K-12 through graduate programs; there are many degree-granting programs in leadership).

Yet, if we aren’t careful, “leadership” may soon also become a “dirty word.” As many as 50 countries in the world are ruled by dictators, and these individuals are proud to call themselves “leaders.” If leaders are supposed to “do the right things,” so many in leadership positions, from leaders of nations to everyday leaders in the workplace, are doing the wrong things – they are punitive, creating toxic environments, engaging in negative politicking, overly-focused on bottom-line results, and stressing out those that they lead.