Essay on Leaders vs Managers

Studies on the subjects of leadership and management have the underlying difference between a leader and a manager as “managers maintain things and leaders change things.” Gill (2006:26) explains their difference as “Managers plan, allocate resources, administer and control whereas leaders innovate, communicate and motivate”

Leadership and management are needed to convert challenges into opportunities. A manager can be seen as a ‘person who has the responsibility, control and influence over a person or group of people and their activities’. Leader = ‘being a person’s reason for doing something’

Quoted by Ronald Reagan “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” A manager gets things done via planning and delegation. Tasks are usually assigned and results are obtained by other efforts. A leader gets things done by holding a vision, modeling behaviors and usually have very inspiring actions. A manager is defined as, “An individual who is in charge of a certain group or tasks” (Business Dictionary). A leader is defined as “The person who leads or commands a group, organizations” (Business Dictionary).

By definition a leader is a person who leads or commands a group however, I believe a leader should be a person who inspires his team excel in the worst of conditions. A leader should be extraordinary reliable as the team should know that the leader could guide them to the best of his abilities toward their goal. A leader should be persistent as they should be the motivational force leading the group. A leader should be patient and calm knowing that quality takes time and that the individual member of his team have obstacles to overcome on their own part.

Understanding the difference and similarities between managers and leaders can be enlightening. Managers develop and manage plans that impact the strategic vision of an organization while leaders set strategic visions for the organization. Managers establish plans, support strategic plans, and organizational objectives. Managers also evaluate and track the achievement of tactical plans that have been assigned to specific staff. While on the other hand leaders motivate staff to achieve the object and task set forth. Managers serve as problem solvers. Managers are the people who assign resources to groups. On the hand leaders serve as persuasive change agents.

Much has been written about the difference between management and leadership. In the past, competent management staffs ran effective companies. In light of our ever-changing world, however, most companies have come to realize that it is much more important to lead than to manage. In today's world the old ways of management no longer work. One reason is that the degree of environmental and competitive change we are experiencing is extreme. Although exciting, the world is also very unstable and confused. In an article entitled What’s the Difference between Your Hospital and the Other? Gary Campbell states that the difference between a manager and a leader is that the manager “finds himself quite willing to

Leadership is a facet of management. It is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. The main aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this managers must undertake the four functions of management: planning, organization, leading and controlling. In some cases leadership is just one important component of the leading function. Predpall (1994) said, "Leaders must let vision, strategies, goals, and values be the guide-post for action and behavior rather than attempting to control others". In some circumstances, leadership is not required. For example, self-motivated groups may not require a single leader and may find leaders dominating. The fact that a leader is not always required proves that leadership is just an asset and is not essential.

Management has changed significantly over the past 50 years. The role of leaders in an organization is an ever changing thing. At one point, a manager was also the owner of the company, and thus used a carrot and a stick to get his employees to work, just like a parent personally invested in the raising of their child. Not anymore. Nowadays, leaders are there to “serve” their employees. The focus is on motivating the individual, achieving organizational goals by integrating each and every individual into the system. We no longer rely on a one size fits all approach, and management theory is no longer focused on having a winning philosophy, or motivating large groups.

In general, we are familiar with the quote managers do things right while leaders do the right things. In essence, the analytical versus the holistic approach of leadership addresses these two separate and distinct functions within an organization. For instance, a manager focuses on the daily operations of an organization with an emphasis on team delivery, budgeting, and supervising the employees. Contrarily, leaders within an organization focus their time on improvements and innovation. In particular, leaders can perform this function since they are not culpable for routine tasks and mired in the minutia. As a result, there is a misnomer that managers are leaders and leaders remain managers, but they are not exclusive. Therefore, being a manager and a leader requires different abilities and dispositions.

What are the differences between managers and leaders? “The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do” (Changing Minds, 2008). Managers hire people to work underneath them to accomplish tasks for a common goal. These people are considered subordinates. Leaders have followers. These followers are considered employees. Leaders are passionate about something and bring this level of understanding and emotion to others around them. Managers deal with the physical aspect of the position, whereas leaders deal with the personal aspect of the position.

The act of directing and controlling a group of people for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing the group towards accomplishing a goal beyond the scope of individual effort. Management encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.

Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision. When referring leadership and management, the two

So, from the above definitions we may draw a difference between leaders and managers as leaders do have a vision, goal and objective, which he tries to make effective and purposeful. On the contrary, the managers only have to maintain their efficiency on day-to-day basis. In other words administration is the task of managers but innovation is the characteristic of leaders and there is a possibility of a manager becoming a leader by setting high standards and goals for his people. It is not the task of this paper to present a difference between both but it is important to present it only because of its being necessary to clear the concept of a leader. So, a good leader is a person who can look high into the horizons when the people are looking down in the bottom line. This makes other people follow their footsteps as everyone wants to move towards horizon to explore new dimensions of practicality.

How can a herd of sheep find the best grass to graze without a shepherd telling them where to go? How can soldiers win a war without their top generals telling them where to fire their weapons? How can an employee succeed in the workforce without an experienced manager telling them what to do? All of these questions can be summed up into one answer: a leader. The work world consists of two different types of people working the field: employees and the management. Management is often consisted of former employees that know the field of the workforce and are told by their bosses to guide the employees through production. All employees tend to start just the same as their coworkers: from the bottom. An employee, or candidate, comes in and speaks with a manager for hiring and learns the ropes. Which means the management are to lead their new found workers in order for a company to succeed. There is a conflict, however. Most companies that have management do not know how to be a leader. The larger retail businesses are often trained to lead a team that provides excellent customer service. A head chef leads a team to run a kitchen in a restaurant and bring excellent food to a diner 's table. So how is it possible to distinguish the difference between a leader and a manager?

In corporate America the term used to describe a person in a position of power is “Manager”. A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader. Leaders motivate, challenge, and influence others to achieve goals. Great leaders have the necessary skills and attributes which allow them to connect with the team and organization. Being a leader is not the same as managing an organization. Leader’s posses the interpersonal skills needed to influence others to achieve a goal willingly. Leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Leaders do not need to be a manager to lead people, but managers must know how to lead as well as manage.