I’m a proponent of leadership over management as the primary course of study to improve one’s ability to influence people. Management, however, seems to have reigned as a subject in books since the 1800s. The google Ngram below charts the usage of the keywords “manager,” “leader,” “management”, and “leadership” in books since 1800.
I notice a couple of interesting things about these trends:
- Leadership subjects did not appear until the mid 1800s (perhaps as a result of the American Civil War)
- Management subjects decreased during the America’s Great Depression
- Management subjects skyrocketed during 1970-1990 (the rise in the economies of industrialized countries)
- All of the keywords dropped in usage after 2001 (Influenced by the attacks on September 11?)