Managers and leaders: different yet both necessary
If you have perused my insight columns at all, you have certainly noticed that I love talking about leadership. I do not use the terms management and leadership interchangeably, because there are significant and noteworthy differences between an effective manager and an effective leader.
Here are three observations related to leadership and management:
Leader and manager and not the same thing.
In The Leadership Experience, Richard Daft constructs a chart comparing management and leadership (Exhibit 1.3 of Chapter 1, 7th edition). The comparison is based on several research articles and analyzes the differences in five areas of organizational performance.
Direction. Managers focus on planning, budgeting, minimization of risk, and the bottom line. Leaders establish vision, strategy, and maximizing opportunity.
Alignment. Managers create structure and order by directing resources and organizing staff. Leaders create culture, establish values, and encourage networks and flexibility.
Relationships. Managers invest in goods, use the power inherent in their position, and focus people on goals. Leaders invest in people, use personal influence, and inspire through purpose and trust.
Personal qualities. Managers have insight into the organization, and they manage within an emphasis on conformity. Their communication style may focus more on talking, and they may stay more emotionally distant from employees and situations. Leaders connect emotionally and with the heart. They focus on listening as part of their communication style and emphasize courage (nonconformity). Leaders also have insight into themselves – their character and emotional intelligence.
Outcomes. Managers desire to maintain stability and pursue efficiency; leaders create change and pursue agility and integrity.
In Three Differences Between Leaders and Managers, the author, Vineet Nayar, provides this insight: “Management consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individual’s ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organizational success. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control.” This observation is consistent with the differences described by Daft.
Keep in mind that people with leadership titles may function more as managers, and people with management titles may function as leaders. Quite frankly, anyone within an organization can be a leader, no matter the title or place on the organizational chart. These differences describe how someone may function within a role rather than serving as a job description.
Leader and manager are both important and necessary.
It is very tempting to read the characteristics of a leader and conclude that they are superior to the descriptions of a manager. “Investing in people” sounds better than “investing in goods.” However, the reality is that the functions of a manager are necessary. If we produce goods, we need to invest in those goods – AND in the people creating them. Pursuing efficiency reflects good stewardship – AND so does pursuing agility. Organizations need structure and order, and they need culture, values, and networks. It will not be sufficient to have a great vision (provided by a leader) without the processes in place to carry it out (provided by a manager).
As a result, I believe the best leaders can be a leader and a manager. They understand the people and the organization (and themselves) in a way that allows them to choose when a moment needs more leadership and when a situation needs more management. To effectively function as both, this leader/manager requires a certain skillset.
Being effective as both leader and manager requires a broad set of skills guided by a whole lot of emotional intelligence.
Being an effective leader and manager requires a person to flex their emotional intelligence – both in the realms of self-awareness and self-management as well as social awareness and relationship management. When we think of completing tasks, we think more in the “management” areas. Yet self-management skills are often associated with being more trustworthy, more self-confident, and more willing to take on challenges (Daft). Relationship managements means a person is able to build meaningful relationships, and this requires being able to connect emotionally.
Let’s consider some comparisons...Managers tend to use position power (i.e., power connected to a title or role) to create structure and to organize staff; however, leaders establish relationships with followers, creating personal power that motivates employees in a different way. Managers rely on the task and timeline, while leaders create vision and a common purpose. Meaning, purpose, and emotional connections will motivate employees on a much deeper level than processes, timelines, and even paychecks.
Are you effectively guiding your team as a manager? Or as a leader?
Consider the challenge proposed by Nayar: “I encourage my colleagues to put this theory to the test by inviting his team-mates for chats. When they stop discussing the tasks at hand – and talk about vision, purpose, and aspirations instead, that’s when you will know you have become a leader.”
Contact ABL Wise Consulting today to take the next step in your development as a manager AND a leader.
