Leaders vs. Managers
by edavis on 23/03/10 at 9:28 pm
Who are leaders? Who are managers? What are the differences? How important are these differences? These are questions I ask myself all of the time.
As I mentioned before, I love to read. And I love to read for a purpose. Currently, I’m reading F.A. Manske’s Secrets of Effective Leadership: A Practical Guide to Success.
In his book, Manske compares leaders and managers. He states that:
Leaders tend to:
- Stress relationships with others, values and commitment – the emotional and spiritual aspects of the organization.
- Create and articulate a vision of what the organization could achieve in the long run.
- Move the organization in new directions – being unsatisfied with maintaining the status quo.
- Communicate the purpose of doing things.
- Favor taking risks and making changes.
- Generate a feeling of meaning in work – its value and importance.
Mangers tend to:
- Stress organization, coordination, and control of resources (e.g., plant, equipment, people).
- Focus on the achievement of short-term objectives and goals.
- Concentrate on maximizing results from existing functions and systems.
- Communicate directives, policies, and procedures.
- Fear uncertainty and act cautiously.
- Enforce fulfillment of agreements and contracts for work.
He further states that “it is possible for a person to have both leadership and managerial skills and various combinations are possible. My observation, however, has been that every executive tends to favor one or the other, not both.”
In my experience, leadership is built through trust. And trust, oftentimes, is built through strong management and skillful planning. To be an effective leader though, you need to understand the business, the market, your people, and your customers. You may have a vision, but if that vision is whacked or cannot be effectively implemented or if your people don’t think it is attainable, it is useless. So, managers are different than leaders. But from what I’ve seen, the best leaders are those who cut their teeth in the management ranks. They have the pulse of the people, understand the problems, and have clear ideas about the future. I would much rather work for those individuals than those who have an idea, but no clue on what to do next.
