“What is the difference between leader and manager?” is an old but important discussion. Let us understand what is the difference between them and why does it matter to us.
The duality of management and leadership
The dual responsibility
The responsibility of running an organization is on the shoulders of the managers. However, managers are sometimes expected to go beyond the duties of managing the firm. They also have to lead the firm through thick and thin times. In these times, the difference between leader and manager becomes apparent.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the roles are contextual and intermingled. Contextual because the roles would depend on the task at hand. Some situations may require you to don the hat of a leader while others may require you to wear the hat of a manager. Meanwhile, both these roles are inseparable from one another. Although, leadership does not require one to have the formal position of a manager. Anyone who takes on the responsibility of leading becomes a manager regardless of position.
Which one is more important?
An organization cannot be successful without an army of managers working on behalf of the shareholders. these managers understand the nuances of running the business.
On the other hand, it is also important for managers to imbibe the vision of the firm. They also inspire their subordinates to work towards a unified goal.
Thereby we can see that both leaders and managers are equally important. It should be also noted that both are inseparable from one another.
What is the difference between leader and manager?
There are many differences between a leader and a manager. However, we shall discuss some of them here.
The difference between personality of a leader and a manager
A manager is expected to be a rational being. The role of a manager is to work towards the fulfillment of a goal. This requires a problem-solving attitude. On the other hand, the leader is expected to be a good listener. The leader is also expected to uphold the interests and concerns of others. Leaders exhibit interpersonal skills.
Approach towards work
Leaders are supposed to look at the larger picture. They are the visionaries. The approach towards work is always something bigger. This approach helps them internalize the firm’s mission and vision.
On the other hand, the managers transform the goals into reality. They analyze internal and external factors to ensure timely completion of projects. Thereby, they are entrusted with the responsibility of planning and executing organizational goals.
Long term versus short term focus
We have discussed how leaders are aligned towards the larger goals. This also means that their focus is more towards the fulfillment of long-term goals.
Meanwhile, the managers work on setting and fulfilling short term goals. These goals are generally governed by the managerial department in which they work.
Leaders are people centric while managers are system centric
Although the managers have people reporting to them, they are focused on the performance. This is ensured by developing systems in place that reduces errors and uncertainties.
The leaders typically take a more hands-on approach. They spend time with people. It’s the power of internal and external networks. They tap on to this network.
Delegation vs empowering
Managers know very well that they cannot do all the tasks by themselves. Of course, there are some managers you think otherwise. These managers who take the command of smaller nitty-gritty are called micromanagers. Usually, the managers assign the work to their subordinates. When this assignment is done along with sharing of responsibility it becomes delegation of work.
On the other hand, leaders understand the limitations of human beings. They know that merely delegating the work Is not enough. Empowering people is more difficult than Simply delegating work to them. However, it also gives much better results.
Leadership is more about two way interaction
Managers are supposed to distribute the workload to the subordinates. It is more of a trickle-down approach. They provide the employees with a conducive environment to complete the tasks.
Meanwhile, the leaders try to strike a conversation. They have a more interactional style of conversation. There is a gold mine of information that you can get from the lower-level employees. Leaders know how to connect with their subordinates to extract this valuable information. They also guide their subordinates. Nevertheless, they parallelly provide an opportunity to contributes towards fulfilling the goals.
A leader helps solve a problem while a manager assigns the problem
Issues come up every once in a while. When a problem arises, some managers chicken out. It is a test of leadership. In this situation, there are two choices.
Firstly, the managers can simply dump their problems on to their subordinates. Secondly, they can sit together and solve the problem.
A leader never place the blame game
How often have you seen a manager who takes credit for their employees work? They also put the blames for any failures on the subordinates.
one must never play the blame game. This is crucial. Only then people see you as a leader. A good leader knows that they have to keep their teams motivated. They are in the long haul. Even if the fault lies with someone else, they know that they have to be grateful. A leader’s personality communicates the problems. They try to find ways of preventing the same mistakes from happening again.
How to be a leader and not a manager?
As we have discussed it is more difficult to be a leader than to be a manager. We have also discussed that both of these roles have to be fulfilled by the same person in different contexts. Let’s look at some of the ways in which you can show leadership qualities:
- Be more compassionate towards people working under you.
- Try to understand their situation before making them understand your situation.
- Include more people in your decision making.
- Never dump problem on your employees, help them solve the issues by standing by their sides.
- Leaders inspire others
- Leadership is also about integrity.