MANAGERS VS LEADERS
The two terms cannot be used interchangeably
Do you consider the terms “management“ and “leadership“ to be
synonymous? Are you confused while discussing these two terms? Do you use the
terms “management“ and “leadership“ interchangeably? Do you fail to see the
difference between the two and the significant tasks that each role plays?
“Managing“ and “leading“ are completely different tasks. And yet, at the same time, are being performed by the same or a different set of people.They may not necessarily be the same. Rather, it is more likely that they are not the same. This varies from organisation to organisation. Leadership and management are very different skills. Some of the best leaders cannot manage very well. At the same time, some of the best managers are not good leaders. Yet, both contribute in a big way to the organisation's performance and growth. Both generate productivity and profitability.
“Managing“ and “leading“ are completely different tasks. And yet, at the same time, are being performed by the same or a different set of people.They may not necessarily be the same. Rather, it is more likely that they are not the same. This varies from organisation to organisation. Leadership and management are very different skills. Some of the best leaders cannot manage very well. At the same time, some of the best managers are not good leaders. Yet, both contribute in a big way to the organisation's performance and growth. Both generate productivity and profitability.
Generally, it has been observed that people use the term “leadership“
to refer to the people at the top of the hierarchy. Layers below them in the
organisation are called as “management“. And all at the bottom of the hierarchy
are known as “employees“ or “workers“. This is quite misleading. One could
argue, however that the terms carry similarity; yet are different. But being
aware of the difference is significant to any organisation that is looking
forward to develop leaders.
So how are they different? For instance, among given categories
like promoters, CEOs, functional heads, managers, etc, how does one identify
who is the manager and who is the leader? Leadership is about vision, about
people buying-in, about empowerment and, most of all, producing useful
change.And in an ever-faster moving world, leadership is increasingly needed
from more and more people, no matter where they are in a hierarchy. Great
leaders discover what is universal and capitalise on it. Their job is to rally
people toward a better future.
Some people still suggest that we must bring change and hence,
replace management with leadership. They serve different, yet essential,
functions. We need effective management. And we need more effective leadership.
We need to be able to make our complex organisations reliable and efficient. We
need them to jump into the future at an accelerated pace, no matter the size of
the changes required to make that happen.
There are very, very few organisations today that have sufficient
leadership.Until we face this issue and understand exactly what the problem is,
we're never going to solve it.Unless we recognise that we're not talking about
management when we speak of leadership, all we will try to do when we do need
more leadership is work harder to manage. At a certain point, we end up with
over-managed and under-led organisations.Therefore, let's clearly differentiate
between leadership and management:
>> MANAGEMENT
Management means directing and controlling a group of one or more
people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonising that group
towards accomplishing a goal.Managers tend to be rational, under control,
problem-solvers. They often focus on goals, structures, personnel, and
availability of resources. Managers' personalities lean toward persistence,
strong will, analysis, and intelligence. They focus on man aging work and
bringing results with an approach of making strategies, policies, and methods
to create teams and ideas that combine to operate smoothly.They empower people
by soliciting their views, values, and principles. They believe that this
combination reduces inherent risk and generates success.
>> LEADERSHIP -
Leadership means “the ability of an individual to influence,
motivate, facilitate and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness
and success of the organisations of which they are members“. Leaders are often
called brilliant and mercurial, with great charisma. Yet, they are also often
seen as loners and private people. They are comfortable taking risks, sometimes
seemingly wild and crazy ones. Their focus is to lead people and outcomes are
achievements.
Jivan Pant
|
Principal
consultant and director, CareerShapers HR Consulting Pvt Ltd
ETAS 17FEB15
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