The classic difference between management and leadership is that managers prioritize doing things right while leaders focus on doing the right things. The hard truth is that many times management falls into the trap of building a culture that prevents failure instead of ensuring success. This Liz Ryan post has some great insight:
“A simple way to answer the question “What’s the difference between managing and leading?” is this:
Managing people means watching them to make sure they do what they’re supposed to do. The concept of traditional supervision is rooted in the fear that working people will misbehave or make mistakes if someone isn’t watching them to make sure they don’t.
A manager marches backwards, watching their troops like a hawk in case somebody is marching incorrectly. They cannot look out over the horizon when they’re marching backwards!