A person is usually both a manager and a leader.

When Frederick Taylor began his studies in Scientific Management, he used a stopwatch to track productivity with the goal of improving performance. The manager’s function in Taylor’s day was the one who took control to ensure productivity and profit. For most of the 20th century management was the main item on the agenda.

Leadership vs Management - What’s the Difference?

The terms “Management” and “Leadership” are often interchanged. In fact, many people view them as basically the same thing.

Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. Management on the other hand, is the use of authority inherent in designated formal rank to obtain compliance from organizational members. It is the set of processes that keep an organization functioning.

Management is a science which can be learnt and taught; leadership is an art. Management is a function whilst leadership is relationship. Leadership is about getting people to understand and believe in your vision and to work with you to achieve your goals.

One key distinction between management and leadership is that we manage "things" and lead "people."

 “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work , and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The two concepts are indeed quite distinct and understanding differences between leadership and management can ensure you see where you can improve and not assume you are simply good at both. By contrasting them and understanding their differences we can better balance and develop these essential roles.

1. Decision Making - Participative vs Directive. Leadership - "follow me into the battle." Management - "now you go ahead as discussed and planned." Managers delegate and assign duties while leaders actively participate. Leaders show how it is done and back up their team with the support to help them succeed. They thrive on engagement. Managers tell "how." Leaders lead by example through their own actions. Managers speak “me.” Leaders speak “we.” Leadership is a team game & true leaders make great team players because of their ability to understand and connect with people around them.

 2. Approach - Vision vs Administration. Leaders are focused on the mission and are interested in the big picture. Managers are accountable for the present. Leaders are accountable for the future. Managers organize and plan to meet this year’s objectives. Leaders create a vision of the years down the road that will change the course of history.

 3. Style - Transformational vs Transactional. he leader is chosen by his team whilst the manager in most cases chooses his team. The manager relies on control; the leader relies on trust. They trust their team to deliver and their team trusts their leadership. Leaders focus on team building. They coach individuals to grow and expand. Dictating through an autocratic management style will not win the hearts and minds of individuals so leadership plays an important role in leading and motivating the teams to achieve those new limits.

 4. Power - Influence vs Formal Authority. Leaders command respect. Managers demand it. The term manager means you are a steward, custodian of someone else’s belonging. Managers are  the instruments of corporate policy whereas leadership is selling a vision that you require others to buy into.

 “Leaders put a fire in people while managers put fire under people.” - Kathy Austin

 5. Focus - People Oriented vs Task Oriented. Managers get results in spite of the people. Leaders get result because of the people. As one employee stated, “Managers only get my best because of the expectations I have set for myself, not for them.”

Managers sometimes set targets that are unattainable to their team. Leaders aim at making people reach their true potential. Great leaders often place great importance on ethical values. They choose to do “what is right”, even if it is difficult.

 “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall” -Stephen R Covey

6. Risk Tolerance - Risk Seeking vs Risk Averse. Leadership is about change. Leaders innovate, develop and invent whilst managers maintain conformance to existing standards. They “go by the book.” Leaders set new direction as their focus is on creating new paths. They take people to places they have never been. Managers keep them in place.

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”    - Peter Drucker

 7. Motivation - Achievement vs Compensation. Being a manager is a job, you implement the practices of the organization. Being a leader is a role, you guide, inspire etc. Their fulfillment comes in bringing about positive change. A good leader puts the interest of their followers before their own, they measure success by whether their followers are better off.

As time passes on Managers are forgotten but Leaders live on in the hearts and minds of their followers long after they have gone.

Taking the Next Step towards Leadership

It’s not impossible for a manager to become a leader. Sometimes it just takes being aware of what they need to do to fulfill their responsibilities as a leader. Managers can become effective leaders by adopting the following: Vision, Integrity, Team Building, Communication, Inspiration, Continuous Learning, Humility, Relationship Building, Risk Taking, Reward and Recognition

 Are all Leaders Managers?

Many people believe that being a good leader automatically means you’re a good manager and vice versa. Sometimes great leaders aren’t able to effectively manage people because they’re thinking too macro and not enough micro.

 Conclusion

The world is littered with companies that had visionary and inspirational leadership but failed to execute due to a lack of competent management.

Naturally leadership is ahead of management. A well balanced organization has leadership at its base. Many of the world’s greatest leaders did not function with a formal title or within the confines of an established organization.

“Leadership is an art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” - Colin Powell

The great need for charisma and inspiration is a must but equally systems must be monitored and controlled to ensure tasks and road maps are created to operationalize the vision, which is normally achieved through the management function. Without efficient management skills the direction set by a leader risks being unsustainable.

Being able to blend these two styles is truly a unique skill set. Keep in mind there is an abundance of managers in the world but very few embody the characteristics of leaders.

Therefore, both management and leadership are needed just as the right and left wing are both essential in an airplane’s flight. Although there will be high turbulence, passenger disruptions and the need to alternate between altitudes, both leadership and management are required to steer the organization to a successful landing, thereby reaching its projected destination in an effective and efficient manner.

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