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Mike Morrison has written an interesting piece that appears on the site trainingzone.co.uk. The title asks: "Management and Leadership Skills: What's the Difference?" And I ask: "Why does it matter?"

I confess that in the beginning of my career as an independent consultant, coach, and trainer I used to design exercises that helped training participants sort out what was leadership and what was management. After all, Warren Bennis told us this distinction was important and he is a guru to be reckoned with.

But I don't think Dr. Bennis ever imagined that we would give over valuable training time to a distinction that is perfectly meaningless from a training perspective. Call them managers or call them leaders, they're responsible for the performance of a group. And whatever you call them they have to learn to do the same things.

Managers or leaders they still have to give the people who work for them an idea of the goal of the team and how it fits into the larger organization. They have to help their people become a contributing part of something that is bigger than they are.

Managers or leaders they still have to set clear and reasonable expectations for the performance and behavior of each team member. Then they have to follow up to see how that member is doing.

Managers or leaders they have to coach, counsel, encourage and correct. C-Suite or shop floor, it's still a good idea to catch problems early, since problems are like dinosaurs and eat you if you let them grow up.

Managers or leaders they have to deliver the consequences of performance and behavior. They have to know how to use positive consequences to encourage effort and negative consequences get people to stop doing the unacceptable.

Managers or leaders they need to document behavior and performance when it's out of the expected range. If someone is a poisonous member of the team they must be gotten rid of. If they show promise they should be helped to develop.

Managers or leaders they need to do the basic planning and coordinating and administration that comes with the job. They need to accomplish the mission and care for the people.

So what's the difference? Beats me. I've never been able to understand how it helped a person learn a skillset better if they knew whether to call it "management" or "leadership."

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.