The Differences of Leadership Vs Management

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 The Differences of Leadership vs Management

Many books and articles argue that managers and leaders have distinctive qualities and skills. There are various scholastic definitions of leadership and management, however, perspective of what they do are generally muddled and used interchangeably. Even though it has been established that leadership is indeed a vital part of management, at a particular degree, leadership becomes a process on its own. During the course of this essay, the aim is to distinguish and explain the differences of leadership vs. management.

Baker (2014) defines leadership as, “the process of persuasion or example by which an individual or team induces a group to act”. Leadership is also defined by Cummins (2013) as, “the manner in which a person or group influences the activities of another group to achieve a certain goal”. Leadership focuses on people. Based on Kevin Kruse’s definition of leadership, it is a process of social influence which can be used to maximise the efforts of people towards the achievement of a common goal. This involves being accountable, motivating people, and taking responsibility for a group. Leadership therefore, is the ability to know where you are going, how you are going to get there and what you are going to do to influence others to follow.

The process of management focuses on the organization. The Business Dictionary defines management as “the organization and coordination of activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives.” Richard Daft states,” management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resources”. Management is also seen as, “the ability to organize functions, to allocate resources, and make the best use of people” (Gardner, 1990). In other words, management is making maximum use of human and material resources to get the job done in a timely and cost efficient manner.

Management consists of a set of well-known functions such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling a group of people for the purpose of accomplishing one common goal within an organization. Leadership, however, is done through motivating, inspiring, coaching and directing. The primary difference between leadership and management is the focus. Management means setting objectives and focusing on consistently producing key results. Leadership focuses on the potential within people; creating and supporting change to vitalize the organization. In a nutshell, management is doing things right whereas leadership is doing the right thing.

One of the major differences between manager and leader characteristics is as it relates to the power and level of compliance it incites within subordinates and followers. In the text ‘Management’, Daft explained that power is the potential ability to influence the behaviour of others. Managers acquire power based on the positional authority granted within the organization. Leaders however, gain influential power by reason of internal sources such as a person’s personal qualities. Management revolves around stability and order. A manager tends to be rational and precise when making decisions, he or she will administer tasks and organize objectives with very little risk and will analyse every aspect before taking the proverbial step forward, keeping an eye on the bottom line.  Leadership promotes vision and creative innovation. An effective leader develops his followers, essentially nurturing their abilities through what is referred to as Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions of one’s self and the emotions of others. There are five primary components of Emotional Intelligence: Self Awareness, Personal Motivation, Self-Regulation, Empathy and Social Skills.

Leadership and Management are interrelated and at times perform similar functions and achieve the same goals; however they are different and distinct skills (Hay and Hodgkinson, 2006).While being a leader influences the activities of a group of individuals, the manager uses all available resources within the organization to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Both the leadership and management roles are essential as they involve deciding what needs to be done, creating networks of people and relationships that can accomplish an agenda and trying to ensure that those people actually get the job done. It must be understood that leading is an essential function of management. Having the ability to lead or be in charge of individuals are similar roles of both leader and manager. When used correctly, the functions and characteristics complement each other effectively and efficiently in executing the management/leadership role. However, the management role is more highly remunerated than the leadership role.

In conclusion, leadership and management are vital components of any successful organization. Although they are different, organizations require a good blend of leadership and management skills for their survival. That is, organizations need leaders who are good managers and managers who are good leaders. Whereas, leaders serve to inspire and motivate people, managers exist to plan organize, and coordinate the activities of the organization by utilizing the human and material resources available. It is evident that leadership development within organizations should and must be made part of a strategy to strengthen employees’ skills if the workplace is to be viewed as successful.

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