Leading, not managing

There are many categories of nerddom in which I fall, but today I had to share this bit of management nerddom from [an Cringley post about Steve Jobs](http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20081107_005502.html):

Dell and HP have the odd strategic initiative, like getting into or out of media players or TVs, but the idea of a comprehensive corporate strategy, well that’s too much to expect from companies that are managed, not led.

I highlighted the phrase that intrigues me — the difference between managing and **leading**. How many companies are truly led anymore?

When examining the news industry I’d have to say that almost all of them are being managed — “let’s manage the print decline”, “let’s manage the Internet growth”, “we’ll have to manage the transition” are probably common phrases being uttered by top executives today.

The [Christian Science Monitor’s](http://csmonitor.com) decision to [end their daily print product and become a primarly digital media company](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/business/media/29paper.html?hp) smacks of leadership to me.

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