Simply Managing: What Managers Do and Can Do Better

Can you lead without having the skills of a good manager? And is management possible without leadership qualities? Henry Mintzberg, a well-known management specialist, criticizes the separation of roles into the “leader-visionary” and the “manager-implementer,” emphasizing the gap between formal planning and its execution, between an analytical approach and intuitive decisions, and between theoretical knowledge and practical realization. By studying the work of managers from different fields, he shows that successful leadership is impossible without daily managerial activity, and that the concept of “pure” leadership detached from routine is one of the myths that prevents real success. Mintzberg describes the real situation in management: a very high pace, constant distractions and switching, chaos, contradictory and fragmented tasks. This guide suggests not fighting chaos, but working productively within it—turning management into a dynamic art based on real conditions.