Bob Andrew has made an observation about management or leadership in knowledge.
There has been much debate in the past over the differences between Management and Leadership. To me it doesn’t matter very much as there will always be overlaps but, simply put, it seems that management is about keeping stability and leadership about encouraging change. If this is true, why then do we have Knowledge Management and not Knowledge Leadership? Perhaps it is because many see KM as providing a stable and controlled environment where knowledge is gathered and hoarded, with all sorts of conditions like who gets to know what and where the knowledge is stored. This is the environment that gives rise to the saying that ‘Knowledge is Power”. The alternative view, and one that I certainly subscribe to, is that knowledge creates change through innovative action and adds value by the free sharing of gained knowledge. For this reason, from now on, I am going to talk about Knowledge Leadership and not Knowledge Management.
The language we use is so powerful in the way it directs our mindset and behaviour that I agree with Bob’s change of direction below. But I think the choice of when to use Knowledge management or Knowledge Leadership must take into account the expectations of your audience, especially if they are already familiar with the management term.