Management vs. Leadership: The Difference Between a Manager & Leader
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Are all managers leaders? Are all leaders managers? This lesson presents arguments that place a manager and a leader into two separate categories, each with their own defining characteristics.
Are All Managers Leaders?
Ask yourself this question: are all managers leaders? Some of you will quickly answer 'yes' assuming the two are synonymous with one another. Others will think back to some of their managers and evaluate them as someone who they either do or do not consider a leader. Many of you might immediately respond 'no' to this question because you have heard of the management versus leadership debate in the past and know very well that the two are, in fact, quite different. Regardless of your initial response to this question, this lesson will present arguments that place a manager and a leader into two separate categories, each with their own defining characteristics. This is not to say that there are not similarities between managers and leaders; rather, the essence of this lesson is to show that not all managers are in fact leaders.
What Is a Manager?
A manager is a person in an organization who is responsible for carrying out the four functions of management, including planning, organizing, leading and controlling. You will notice that one of the functions is leadership, so you might ask yourself if it would be safe to assume that all managers are leaders. Theoretically, yes - all managers would be leaders if (and this is a big 'if') they effectively carry out their leadership responsibilities to communicate, motivate, inspire and encourage employees towards a higher level of productivity. However, not all managers are leaders simply because not all managers can do all of those items just listed. An employee will follow the directions of a manager for how to perform a job because they have to, but an employee will voluntarily follow the directions of a leader because they believe in who they are as a person, what they stand for and for the manner in which they are inspired by their leader. A manager becomes a manager by virtue of their position, and subordinates will follow the manager because of his or her job description and title.
What Is a Leader?
Perhaps the greatest separation between management and leadership is that leaders do not have to hold a management position. That is, a person can become a leader without a formal title. Any individual can become a leader because the basis of leadership is on the personal qualities of the leader. People are willing to follow the leader because of who he or she is and what the leader stands for, not because they have to due to the authority bestowed onto him or her by the organization. The leader will show passion and personal investment in the success of his or her followers reaching their goals, which may be different from organizational goals.
Leadership is about effectiveness through trust, inspiration and people. Leaders often challenge the status quo that managers spend much of their time upholding to bring innovation to organizations. Leadership is visionary, change-savvy, creative, agile and adaptive. Managers are concerned with the bottom line, while leaders spend time looking at the horizon.
The Manager versus the Leader
To better help you understand the differences between a manager and a leader, we can look to Erin Brockovich. Erin was a true leader in every sense of the word, and it was because of her leadership qualities that her name became well-known in 2000 when Hollywood chose Julia Roberts to play her role in the Oscar-winning movie Erin Brockovich. For those of you who did not see the movie or who have never heard of Erin Brockovich, here is some background information.
Once the medical records were found, it was Erin the file clerk, and not the lawyer, who pursued justice for what would turn out to be 600 individuals whose water had been poisoned by Pacific Gas & Electric for 30 years in Hinkley, California. Yet the lawyer was the manager, he was the one in the leadership position and he was the one with the experience, knowledge and power to bring Pacific Gas & Electric to justice, so why did he not take the lead on this case? Why was he was more occupied with cases that he knew he could make money on? Why was the lawyer reluctant to dig deeper into the medical records?
Lesson Summary
Let's review. A manager is a person in an organization who is responsible for carrying out the four functions of management, including planning, organizing, leading and controlling. A manager becomes a manager by virtue of his or her position, and subordinates will follow the manager because of his or her job description and title. A manager's primary concern is to accomplish organizational goals. Management is about efficiency and getting results through systems, processes, procedures, controls and structure.
A person can become a leader without a formal title. That is, any individual can become a leader because the basis of leadership is on personal qualities. A leader will show passion and personal investment in the success of his or her followers reaching their goals. People are willing to follow the leader because of who he or she is and what the leader stands for. A leader has followers, whereas a manager has subordinates. Power is awarded to the leader on a temporary basis and is contingent upon the leader's ability to continue to motivate and inspire followership. Leadership is about effectiveness through trust, inspiration and people. Leaders are visionary, change-savvy, creative, agile and adaptive.