Defining leadership and management

To successfully lead a team or organisation, you require effective management and leadership skills. People often think management and leadership skills are the same, but there are some notable differences between the two. 

Skills for Care hosts local and national events and networks to support the adult social care sector with their workforce development needs.

Search for events in your local area by region and by topic. If you’re looking for network event in your area and can’t find it on the listing below, please contact your locality manager.

Here you can find resources which introduce fundamentals of health and care. Our first learning opportunity is RESTORE2 Training as provided by Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.

Information and resources on various aspects of leadership and management.

Benchmark yourself against 96 key leadership skills

Complete the Leader DNA diagnostic to learn your own leadership strengths and weaknesses

Are you a leader, or a manager? How do you decide? What’s the difference—and why does it matter?

We often conflate leadership and management. Most of us use the two terms interchangeably with little downside. When we talk about leaders, we usually mean managers, and when we address managers, we think of them as leaders. But while the same person can be both, they don’t necessarily have to be.

It’s important to continually respond to and learn from what is going well, and what isn’t going so well. This enables you to make improvements to your service and offer that benefit everyone – especially those accessing care and support.

The Manager Induction Standards (MIS) set out what a manager needs to know and understand to perform well in their role.

Leaders and managers are important to the success of any organisation. That’s why the effective induction of managers needs to be a key focus, so they start off on the right step and in the right direction.

Skills for Care has reviewed the Manager Induction Standards (2023) so you can use them to support this process. 

Managers play a crucial role in social care. You’re not only responsible for supporting those who need care and support, but for taking care of staff and influencing the quality of care across the sector.

High-quality care and skilled, confident leaders and managers go hand in hand. Over 90% of services rated good or outstanding for being well-led by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) were also rated good or outstanding overall. 

The Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) focuses on the values and behaviours that provide the foundations for effective leadership in social care.