Leadership, management and project managers

In an increasingly complex and uncertain business environment we hear much talk of leadership v management. John Kotter has spoken much on this subject and argues that leadership and management are distinct but complementary systems, each with its own functions and associated activities.
Strong management and weak leadership is a journey to a poor outcome, strong leadership with weak management is no better and sometimes actually worse.

Looking at the internet there are many reference lists of the attributes of leaders and managers.
Managers are about: planning, process, measures, control, resources, maintenance and formal hierarchy.

Leaders are about: vision, motivation, people, change, breaking down barriers and building aligned relationships.

As we encounter greater change in organizations and projects it is clear that change demands more leadership.

We should probably stop looking at leadership and management as two separate lists of behaviors and activities but rather consider how we combine the two to create a better type of leader and manager able to act in the ever more complex business world in which we operate. A project manager must do both leadership and management finding the right balance between them to deliver the required outcome.

Perhaps key to the future of the project management role is clearly recognising the need for both and ensuing that we provide both, each day, in every project we are involved with.