Are Leadership and Management Different?

Are leadership and management different? People use these two terminologies interchangeably or as synonyms, and also they look same, but they are different from one another.

This article is to analyse the key differences between leadership and management, because it is a subject of debate in business and academic communities.

In this article, the terms leader(s) and manager(s) are used which refer to leadership and management respectively.

In literature, there is a lot of discussion on leadership and management either they are different or the same.

These two concepts are quite different, but still inseparable. Possibly, a leader can be a manager, and a manager can be a leader.

An organisation needs effective leadership and management to achieve goals and objectives.

Leaders and managers perform different responsibilities and functions within organisations (in some cases they might be the same), from day to day activities to planning and from planning to set a vision.

Also, leaders and managers, they both have different traits or attributes, based on that they can be differentiated.

Before going into the discussion to understand the differences, it is not worthless to define leadership and management.

What is Leadership?

The art of leading and inspiring a group of people towards a direction is known as leadership.

In other words, it is the skill of getting and motivating people to willingly do something you need them to do.

Therefore, the leadership may include; motivating, inspiring, encouraging, directing, and persuading people.

The people who undertake or possess these skills are called leaders.

In literature, you can find a lot of leadership definitions. It is hard to give a specific definition.

Also Read: What is Leadership?

What is Management?

Management can be defined as; it is a set of processes that need for the functioning of an organisation. Or in other words, it is a process of dealing with or controlling resources and people.

The management processes may also include, planning, controlling, delegating, developing, and organising. And the people who undertake or supervise these activities are called managers.

Sometimes, management also refers as 5M acronym, which means management is the balance of Money, Men, Material, Machine, and Methods.

 

Similarities between Leadership and Management

Despite the fact, leadership and management are two different concepts but there are some similarities or overlaps between them. They include:

Goals Attainment

The major overlap between these two is goal attainment or achievement. Leaders and managers work towards certain goals.

They both also make other people work for achieving goals and objectives. This is one of the similarities between them.

People

The leaders and managers have to work with people. They both surround with people.

The people may be in the form of followers or subordinates, but leaders and managers have to deal with people.

Influence

Influence is also one of the similarities between leadership and management. Leaders and managers influence the working environment and structure.

They both can influence employees or followers to perform effectively and achieve goals.

 

Difference between Management and Leadership

There is a great deal of confusion over the differences between leadership and management.

In this section, I highlighted the key differences between these two concepts. They are:

 

1. Leaders Create Vision, Mangers Execute Vision

Leadership

Vision is an essential element for an organisation. Therefore, every organisation has a vision.

Vision means, the ability of thinking and planning the future. In other words, vision is the futuristic picture of an organisation.

It also refers to where you are now and where you want to go and which guidelines or values to follow.

According to John C. Maxwell, leaders have to do with casting vision and motivating people.

Leadership creates a vision for an organisation. And that vision drives the organisation.

Further, leaders are the people who create a vision, pursue it, and help other people to work towards that vision.

Management

Management has to execute or implement that vision which is created by leadership.

The managers prepare a road map to achieve the vision through other team members.

They control everyday activities in the direction of vision and goal achievement.

The main focus of the managers is to allocate resources, and implement tactical actions to attain the organisational vision.

Also Read: Top 10 Leadership Skills

2. Leaders Inspire People, Managers Control People

Leadership

Inspiring others is the basic and important quality of a leader. Inspirational leaders make other people to trust them.

Leadership focuses on inspiring and empowering other people. The leaders inspire their followers to understand their roles to work towards achieving goals and objectives.

They inspire followers by their behaviour, integrity, respect, and engagement to turn vision into reality.

Management

Management deals with controlling and directing people rather than inspiring them.

The managers exercise strict control to accomplish tasks and activities. They use power and influence over subordinates.

The managers generally, have authority and they hold a management position, therefore they use control over people. And the subordinates have to obey the rules because of position and authority.

 

3. Leaders have Followers, Managers have Subordinates

Leadership

A leader must have followers if to be a leader. Having followers makes a leader distinct from a manager.

Peter Drucker in his book ‘Management Challenges for 21^st Century’ defines a leader is someone who has followers.

John C. Maxwell in his book ‘Developing the Leader Within You’ says, all great leaders possess the ability to persuade others to follow.

People follow the leaders because of their strong personality traits, behaviours, and beliefs.

Leaders have followers because they help them to be successful personally and to achieve their personal goals in life.

Management

On the other hand, managers have subordinates rather than followers. They order the subordinates or employees to follow the instructions from them.

The subordinates have to follow the instructions from managers because of their title or designation.

The managers just focus on achieving organisational goals and objectives. They don’t take into consideration the personal success and goals of subordinates.

The management has the authority to promote, hire, fire, and reward subordinates on their performance and behaviour.

 

4. Leaders are Motivational, Managers are Authoritative

Leadership

John P. Kotter in his book Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management says, leaders, ‘they focus on motivation, and inspiration’.

The leaders have the power to motivate people to boost their energy to work for achieving goals.

Alan Bryman in his book Leadership and Organisations argued that leadership is about strategic motivation.

The leaders use the motivational style to motivate and inspire their followers.

They set the purpose and direction, and build enthusiasm. They use their leadership skills to motivate followers.

The leaders quite easily engage and persuade their followers because of motivational style.

Management

The managers follow process management and rules. They give directions in authoritative manner.

They deal with regular formal responsibilities and functions to complete daily tasks. They use authority to make subordinates working and completing tasks.

The managers rely on power, authority, and strong control over people or subordinates.

They use strict authority over subordinates because they can be held responsible for their actions as well as for the actions of subordinates.

 

5. Leaders Create Change, Managers React to Change

Leadership

Positive change is essential for organisations. Internal and external both changes are important to be managed.

John C. Maxwell considers leader as an agent of change. The leaders must know two things which are important to bring change, first requirements for change, and attitude and motivation for it.

The leaders create change. But, changes create fear. People resist change because of unknown or unclear.

The leaders create trust with people and inspire them to accept the proposed changes.

Trust keeps attaching the followers and leaders together. The leaders consult with followers before implementing change.

They convince people how the change will benefit them and also provide opportunities to discuss that change.

Management

The managers react to change rather than create them. They are sometimes unable to adapt change.

The lacks of skills which are necessary for change management make it hard for managers to take initiative.

Also, because of authoritative style the managers have lack of trust with subordinates and they face difficulties to implement change.

The managers are less about change, because they don’t take initiative for change. They just react.

 

6. Leaders Innovate, Managers Organise

Leadership

The leaders innovate. They always keep an eye on innovations. They come up with new and fresh ideas that drive the organisation ahead.

Leaders think strategically. They focus to develop new techniques and strategies that move the organisations.

The leaders use the power of knowledge of current trends, skills set, and advancements to invent or innovate.

Management

The managers are the people who maintain what is established before. They align the people with that innovation which is established by leaders.

The managers need to control workflow and employees in the organisation. They don’t focus to invent or innovate something new.

Managers establish targets, appreciate, and interpret the performance of the employees. They know which person fits a specific task.

 

Final Thoughts

Leadership and management are two different concepts. They overlap or have some similarities, but to a certain extent.

Leadership is a much deeper and bigger concept. It goes beyond management activities such as accomplishing tasks, planning, and managing people, etc.

Leaders can be managers, and managers can be leaders. It depends on the personality traits an individual has.

Organisations need both leaders and managers to achieve goals and grow in a competitive environment.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are leadership and management different from one another?

Leadership and management are different from one another. As you can understand from the above discussion they are two different concepts.

 

What is difference between leadership and management with example?

Leadership mainly deals with inspiring and motivating people and creating a vision. On the other hand, management deals with controlling and accomplishing activities on a daily basis (these definitions may vary).

 

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