Leadership versus Management

 

 

Leadership versus Management

 

                   A Critical Truth: "If you have a horse and a wagon, the placement is

                                                 critical....i.e., If you want good employees you must

                                                 have good managers and good leaders."

 

 

Leadership vs. Management...What is the Difference? The simple answer is: A lot. But that answer is not going to help anyone. In this post I'll explain my answer, by discussing the need for both Leaders and Managers in the workplace; the different skills each require; the different purposes of each, and more.

We'll concentrate first on Leadership, what it is and what it isn't. We'll do this in some parts by contrasting it to Management. We'll have a separate post on Management. 

 

 

                                Let's Start With Some Definitions:

 Leadership:

"A process of influencing individual and group activities toward goal setting and goal achievement." 

 

Management: The process of achieving organizational goals/objectives by Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling, (These are the basic Four Functions of Management), the organization's resources, (facilities, material, capital, and employees), while also allowing the employees to achieve their goals and satisfy their needs." (A side note about the last line of this paragraph. This statement is very important and will be addressed in a separate post about "Motivation.")

The above definitions are two of many for the two terms. At first glance the two seem very similar, however we will see that they are very different, they have different roles in business, need different skills, etc. The objective of this post is to focus on Leadership; what it is; what it isn't; and contrast it to Management.

The Need for Leadership.

Well of course we need leadership,....we all know that. O.K. we agree, but let's look a little closer at that need. There are four, and maybe more, inescapable facts of organizational life that demand Leadership.

1. The Uninvited Guest Factor, (UGF): We've all been there....We plan and plan and some uninvited person shows up....now what? A fact of business life is, no matter how superior planning, procedures, schedules, etc., are, there is a fundamental incompleteness in organizations. Gaps can appear, overlaps will develop, unforeseen events occur, external events interfere, and the whole system would come apart if there weren't someone providing leadership.

2. The External Business Environment: Few firms can isolate themselves from external business environmental changes that today happen at an exponential rate of speed. Organizations need someone with a wide and deep vision of the changing business environment to interpret these changes and make decisions to take advantage of these changes or to make decisions to prevent these changes from negatively affecting the firm.

3. The Internal Dynamics of an Organization: An organization is made up of many components/departments depending on the size of the firm. These components interact with each other to form what is called a "System." This System is in a constant state of interaction with each other and each component/department is dependent upon other components/departments. If these components were left to their own there would be a complete breakdown of what was to be a system of interacting company components/departments. A leader with a system's view is needed to ensure the organization works in "Concert" with each other.

4. Human Behavior: The nature of human behavior in an organization is very unpredictable. Here we are dealing with people with a variety of concerns, problems, needs, and biases about how to do things. Abraham Maslow said: "To person with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."  These personal concerns vary so greatly that leadership is required for adjustments and adaptation....i.e., some people can be difficult at times especially before their morning coffee.

A Closer Look at Leadership 

 

Another Set of Definitions: By the end of this discussion you should be able to explain the following two definitions.

 

"Managers are people who do things right."

"Leaders are people who do the right things"

Leadership is a subject that has interested scholars, dictators, politicians, military officers and lay-people as well for thousands of years. the term connotes images of dynamic individuals, who command armies of corporate empires, and change the course of nations. For our situation it also applies to people who own and/or run a small business. What we are talking about is an organizational situation in which a person, (a leader), induces others to some specific performance because they have a degree of power over others. (Power, it's role in management and it's many forms will be discussed later).

With the above being said we can now add, leadership really is not mysterious. People are not born with it; it does not require charisma or other exotic personality traits. What it does take is Work.

 

 

Becoming a Leader Takes Work, Not Luck

 

Effective Leaders are not born and they are not academically produced from MBA programs. Effective Leaders are the people who work at becoming one and luck has nothing to do with it no matter how many times you've heard someone say, "He's a born leader."

 

Effective Leaders are those people who work at understanding that people want to be led by people who set good examples. They want to be led by someone who is honest, fair, ethical, trustworthy, wants to achieve and loves life.

 

Effective Leaders are those people who work at merging their vision and passion to achieve the goals for the organization while also satisfying the needs of their followers and society.

 

Finally, Effective Leaders are those people who work at understanding the following key principles regarding employees:

• Employees do not purposely intend to do a bad job. Actually, they want to do a good job.
• Employees do want to be acknowledged for doing a good job.
• Employees would prefer to like, even admire their leaders, but trust is a more important attribute.
• Employees want to be inspired, not intimidated.
• Employees perform better when they understand where they are going and know how they will get there.
• Employees feel more secure when they are led, not "Bossed."
• Employees do work to earn an income, but they need more from the workplace other than an income. They need recognition, responsibility, respect, a sense of belonging, and a sense of being part of a team, not someone who is "rented."
• Employees do want to have a voice in the work processes that involve them and appreciate it when they are asked for their opinion.  



 

Management is concerned with coping and directing organizations. Managers at all levels have four main areas of concern....they are the "Four Functions Of Management." They are Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. (These functions will be explained later in another post.)

When these functions are executed in an effective way management brings a high degree of order and consistency to things like quality control, high productivity, efficiency, profitability, consistent high customer service, etc.

 

 

Leadership by contrast is concerned with coping with changes in the business environment, both at the micro, (Internal components of an organization) and macro, (External to an organization) levels. These changes, at the micro and macro levels, are happening at an increasing rate....we call that an exponential rate....a.k.a., acceleration. Leading an organization requires understanding how these changes will effect your organization. Some changes may open opportunities and some may have a potential negative impact. A leader must recognize how these changes could affect their organization and make the necessary adjustments to the organization's strategy so to avoid the problems and take advantage of the opportunities. 

Leading an organization to constructive change begins by developing a vision of the future of the organization, establishing goals/objectives, and then selecting strategies to reach those goals and objectives. That is the essence of leadership.

Leadership and Management By now we can see that they are two distinctive and complementary processes/tasks/jobs, etc. They are both necessary and critical to the success of an organization. They have different purposes. They require different skills. Being a good manager does not mean you can be a good leader. Conversely, being a good leader does not mean you can be a good manager. Can you be good at both? Yes.

 

Finally: For more detailed information that supports the above please research the following:

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory.
• Herzberg's Maintenance and Motivation Theory.

Most of this post is based on these two theories. Understanding this information will definitely help people wanting to be a good leader in business.

 

Best of Luck