Here’s an interesting perspective on leadership and management from Richard Branson. Branson argues that an important difference between leaders and managers is that managers follow rules, while leaders need to creatively break them. He writes:

“Management is about maintaining processes, disciplines and systems — something that doesn’t come naturally to yours truly. Where managers keep the rules, leaders have to be willing to break them, or at least find creative ways around them. As I wrote in my book, “The Virgin Way,” leaders must have vision, creativity, and the ability to influence others to follow and support them into uncharted and often risky territory.”

While I think there’s much truth in that, it’s disappointing that Branson doesn’t mention that this rule-breaking is both a source of necessary innovation as well as a source of unethical behavior.

A critical issue for leaders to understand, maybe more so in education and health care, is that appropriate rule-breaking is bound by morals, ethics, and values. A great leader understands the line where rule-breaking becomes fraud, abuse of power, or worse.

Viewing leadership as rule-breaking, without the boundaries of ethical, value-based leadership, is a dangerous and misleading idea.