Managers vs Leaders

MANAGEMENT 100 Using examples, compare and contrast the characteristics of both managers and leaders. There is a lot of confusion, or at least very different views, about what is meant by management and what is meant by leadership, about whether the work of managers is fundamentally different from the work of leaders, and whether they are in fact different roles at all. Of course the meaning of such ambiguous words will depend on the definition people choose to give those words, and there are many authors who use management and leadership interchangeably while there are other authors who stipulate very separate definitions for each.As Summarized by Professor Warren Bennis, â€Å"Management is getting people to do what needs to be done. Leadership is getting people to want to do what needs to be done† (Bennis 1989). Whilst managers have the authority to make people get work done, leaders will inspire, motivate and mentor people in to getting this work done. Many managers have n ot yet mastered the interpersonal skills needed in order to have good leadership skills. (The Talent Management Experts, 2007). â€Å"Leadership occurs through the use of influence, not the use of force† (Naddafpour, 2012). Jim Clemmer’s idea is that â€Å"we manage things and we lead people† (Clemmer 2012).Management is said to focus more on work. We manage physical assets such as money, paperwork, equipment, etc. Management tends to maintain focus on Fayols four functions of Planning, Organising, controlling, and leading. (Waddell, Jones and George 2011) They also problem solve, cope with complexity, budget and make effective decisions. Whereas Leadership focuses on people and how they are mentored. Leaders will typically create vision and set a direction to promote change and develop strategies to inspire, innovate and motivate people, forming relationships and creating teamwork (Future Visions. n. d. ).Typically these are the general definitions given by mos t authors however everyone has their own ideas about the work that each does. In a Harvard Business Review Classic article, Zaleznik (1992, 15) observed that managerial culture emphasizes rationality, order and control, and that a manager is a problem solver. He went on to suggest that leadership requires very different skills and behaviours more similar to an artist, that leaders tolerate chaos and lack of structure, they are creative and concerned with transformation. Zaleznik argued that the development of a leader is very different to that of a manager.In so doing Zaleznik not only proposes that leadership work is indeed different from management work but also that managers and leaders are different roles and different people. In another Harvard Business Review article entitled â€Å"What Leaders really Do† Kotter (2001, 85) writes that management and leadership are â€Å"two distinctive and complementary systems of action†¦. Both are necessary for success in an inc reasingly complex and volatile business environment. † For Kotter, management is about coping with complexity, about creating order and stability. In contrast, leadership is about coping with change.He uses a military analogy: a peacetime army is about administration and management with good leadership only necessary at the top, whereas in wartime people must be led into battle by leaders at all levels. Kotter elaborates that management is about planning and budgeting whereas leadership is about setting direction, management is about organizing and staffing whereas leadership is about aligning people, and finally management is about controlling and problem solving whereas leadership requires motivating and inspiring. Kotter describes the commonly parroted list of differences between what leaders do and managers do.It is probably more accurately a description of management behaviours/work and leadership behaviours/work than a distinction between â€Å"managers† and †Å"leaders†. In truth many managers do much leadership work, and many leaders do much management work, so it the distinction between roles is a bit artificial, but it is true there are different types of work. The commonly held distinction between manager and leader is perhaps summed up well by Hickman (1990, 7): â€Å"The words ‘manager’ and ‘leader’ are metaphors representing two opposite ends of a continuum. Manager’ tends to signify the more analytical, structured, controlled, deliberate, and orderly end of the continuum, while ‘leader’ tends to occupy the more experimental, visionary, flexible, uncontrolled, and creative end. †¦ I like to think of the prototypical manager as the person who brings the thoughts of the mind to bear on the daily organisational problems. † In contrast the leader brings the feelings of the soul to bear on those same problems†¦. The mind represents the analytical, calculating, structu ring, and ordering side of tasks and organisations.The soul, on the other hand, represents the visionary, passionate, creative, and flexible side. † Jacques and Clement (1994, 19) suggest that the separation of manager from leader has â€Å"reinforced the modern day tendency to debase the idea of the managerial role. † They say it is an unrealistic and incorrect separation. Instead managers have leadership accountabilities, and to be a good manager one also needs to demonstrate good leadership. Being a â€Å"good boss† is not about simply relying on hierarchical authority but about setting purpose and getting people to move in the direction of that achieving that purpose.Similarly McDonald, Burke and Stewart (2006, 79) lament that leader is used in a positive manner suggesting charisma and vision, and â€Å"doing the right thing†, whereas manager is used in a somewhat demeaning fashion to mean rule following, concerned with efficiency, â€Å"doing things right†. They argue that this is a misleading dichotomy. Instead they argue that all managers are leaders in the sense that they lead people, that being a manager entails doing leadership work (as well as doing other management work such as planning, budgeting, etc. ). On the other hand not all leaders are necessarily managers.The leadership quality of a manager reflects their ability â€Å"to create a productive culture through social process†. In all it is believed by some that to be a good manager you need to be a good leader but to be a good leader you do not need to be a manager (Webster, 2012). But can you really point to one individual person and say â€Å"they are a manager but not a leader† and to another and say â€Å"they are a leader but not a manager†. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Which is why some authors actually talk about â€Å"managerial leadership†! So what does all this add up to?Certainly there are different vi ews about whether managers and leaders are the same or different roles/people. It is perhaps a false dichotomy or at least not useful in so far as there are many many people with the job title of â€Å"Manager† but for whom a good deal of their work is leadership work. However most authors do agree that there is a set of characteristics/skills/values/behaviours which can clearly be defined as leadership attributes, and the exercise of these attributes is identifiable as leadership work and it is indeed distinct from the planning, controlling, budgeting, reporting work of a manager. ReferencesBennis, W. 1989. On becoming a leader. London: Hutchinson Business Books. Clemmer, J. 2012. Management vs. Leadership. http://www. jimclemmer. com/management-vs. -leadership. php (accessed May 14, 2012). Future Visions. n. d. Leader Vs Manager. http://www. futurevisions. org/ldr_mgr. htm (accessed May 14, 2012). Hickman, C. R. 1990. Mind of a Manager- Soul of a Leader. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jaques, E. , and S. D. Clement. 1994. Executive Leadership: A Practical Guide to Managing Complexity. Arlington: Cason Hall & Co Kotter, J. P. 2001. What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review, December: 85.Macdonald, I. , C. Burke and K. Stewart. 2006. Systems Leadership: Creating Positive Organisation. England: Gower Publishing Limited. Naddafpour, Ali. (2012). Chapter 11: Leadership and Influence Processes. Lecture notes. Retrieved from College of the Canyons Website: http://www. canyons. edu/Faculty /naddafpoura/Bus110/Bus110Ch11Sum. htm (accessed May 14, 2012). The Talent Management Experts. 2007. Business Impact Leadership [Brochure]. Sydney: Development Dimensions International Inc. Waddell, D. , G. R. Jones, and J. M. George. 2011. Contemporary Management. 2nd ed. North Ryde, NSW: McGraw-Hill Webster, A. 2012.Comparison of Management and Leadership. http://www. ehow. com/info_7758884_comparison-management-leadership. html (accessed May 14, 2012). Zaleznik, A . 1992. Managers and Leaders: Are they Different. Harvard Business Review, March: 15. http://hbr. org/1992/03/managers-and-leaders-are-they-different/ar/1 (accessed May 14, 2012). | SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENTAssignment COVER SHEET| Your Name/s| SHARNI TIETZEL| Student No/s| 14859351| Unit Name| Management 100| Unit Index No. | 10848| TUTOR’S Name| MARTIN TURNBULL| TUTORIAL Day/Time/Class| EXTERNAL| Assignment Title (where applicable)| INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT| | Don’t forget to date stamp| 18/05/2012|Students comments to Lecturer/Tutor (if any)| | | | Please read the following and sign where indicatedDECLARATION: I/We declare the attached assignment is my/our own work and has not previously been submitted for assessment. This work complies with Curtin University of Technology rules concerning plagiarism and copyright. [Refer to www. policies. curtin. edu. au/documents/unit_outlines_plagiarism_state. doc for plagiarism and copyright information. ] I/We have retained a copy of th is assignment for my own records. Signed: SHARNI TIETZEL| THIS SECTION IS TO BE COMPLETED BY LECTURER/TUTOR: COMMENTS TO STUDENT| | | | | | | | Recorded Mark| | Lecturer| | Date| | ASSESSMENT 2 RESPONSE SHEET – Individual Essay Students need to use both in-text referencing and build a reference list. Students must use 8 sources of reference – fewer than this will result in a ‘fail’ grade. | | Mark| Research * A range of sources used * Detail and relevance of research * Originality of sources/approach * Overall depth and quality of research| /20| Content * Effective introduction * Body of essay- clear discussion that remains focused on the topic * Conclusion – restatement of purpose, summary of major findings, synthesis of argument. /20| Analysis * Critical analysis (Developing an argument or a point of view) * Overall depth and quality of analysis| /30| References * Minimum reference requirements met * References used to support arguments and ideas * Correct CHICAGO Version 16 style * All references cited in-text| /20| Academic writing * Grammar * Writing is clear and concise * Sentence structure * Paragraph structure * Spelling * Use of third person voice * Overall academic style| /10| General Comments: (in particular what the participant would need to do to get a higher mark and what has been done well) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|