A well known US leadership guru, Professor Ed Locke, once wrote that the distinction between leadership and management is really very simple: leaders establish "a vision", while managers "implement the vision". Over the next two years we will witness a leadership struggle between all the main political parties, and also within the government, when Tony Blair leaves UK politics in the early summer. The leadership challenge is already on, as all contenders put up their "leadership stalls" through the media and in the public arena. But what does all this political manoeuvering tell us about our attitudes toward leadership in general, and for the next decade?
It seems to me that the issue of leadership versus management, or transactional (managing the reward system to produce the end result) versus transformational (charisma, vision and encouraging others to take action) leadership is at the forefront of this challenge. What kind of leader do we need in this global, competitive and less secure world that we inhabit? Is it vision, charisma and passion, or is it someone who can micro-manage complex systems, finance and structures?

We have had in Tony Blair an outstanding example of a transformational leader, someone who sets the vision, the political agenda, and then delegates specific aspects of this vision to others to deliver. We have seen in Blair's style of leadership, the passion, the ideas and the ability to motivate others, but less concentration on the delivery by "the others", whether it is in the Home Office, the NHS or wherever.

But Gordon Brown is seen as the transactional or managerial-type of leader, someone whose skills lie more on the delivery than the visionary end of the spectrum. The irony is that as a team, their respective strengths brought economic success for UK Plc. As the relationship between the two changed, some would say it became less interdependent, and as the effective provision of public services moved up the political agenda, Blair has had to focus more on the delivery of his vision, ergo the public sector transformation agenda. 

Does this scenario tells us something about the respective roles of leadership and management, that one without the other may work in the short term, but in the longer term vision and implementation go hand in hand if you are ever to be successful? As the old Italian proverb suggests: "you can pull on an olive as much as you want but that won't make it ripen any faster". But does that mean that the "top dog" has to be the visionary and the chief operating officer the number two, or is it more fundamental to have both leadership types at the top, regardless of who fulfils what role?

The same scenario exists within the Conservative party, with David Cameron the communicator, visionary and risk taker, while George Osborne concerns himself with the role of operations director. It is too early to tell if this set-up will last, but the important point, not only for politics but also for business leadership, is that it is rare that one person can both define the vision and also micro-manage to achieve specific objectives.
Entrepreneurs are visionary and passionate but many have trouble dealing with the detail of achieving specific goals, particularly when a company grows in size. Many years ago, a co-author and I interviewed Sir Peter Parker (formerly chairman of British Rail) for a book we were writing on change makers. He said of entrepreneurs and transformational leaders: "I think I can recognise a real entrepreneur at 300 yards on a misty day! Like an actor he is full of self confidence and vanity. But he trusts his vanity and feels that what he has to say really matters... above all he has the drive to succeed and gets things done".

Whether transformational or transactional, leaders must understand that a business, like politics, needs both styles, and more, to achieve success. As the old Japanese proverb goes, "vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare".

Cary Cooper is the professor of organizational psychology and health and pro vice-chancellor at Lancaster University's management school. He's also an author and the chair of UK government think-tank the Sunningdale Institute www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/news/5696/