The Differences Between Management and leadership
The Differences Between Management and leadership
‘Management and leadership’, usually these words are generally heard together. Are they interconnected? Are there any differences between them? This is a discussion that has been going on for some time and will be around for some time to come. It is a common topic for discussion in various management training programs and management training courses. The fact is that you cannot escape this topic if you are attending any type of management training program.
A leader is a person who leads whereas a manager is one who manages. This is not funny, but we have to start somewhere and what better than the basic definitions. The biggest difference as perceived by others is the way in which they motivate people. In life nothing is black or white, everything is a different shade of grey. Similarly a manager can be a leader and vice versa. So, we can have a combination of both.
Management training manuals will tell you that managers have subordinates. Managers are given some powers by the company and the subordinates have to do as they are told. The incentive for a subordinate to do what the manager says is the reward that is given. So, if the subordinate does as he/she is told they are going to get their pay. They are not blind robots but the incentive makes them behave like that. In contrast leaders have followers. And following is a voluntary activity. Leaders do not tell people what has to be done, instead they show them the way by taking initiative and doing things first. Leaders show them that if they follow the leader they are going to fulfill their heart’s desire.
What is the chief focus for a manager? Management training programs and management training courses will tell you that the chief focus for a manager should be a manager. They are paid to get things done. After all they are themselves subordinate to some other manager. They often have deadlines looming ahead so they cannot afford focusing on anything else. Leaders on the other hand focus on people. They have a way with people; they give credit to others and take blame themselves. This creates a loyal base of followers around them. This doesn’t mean that they are very friendly with their followers. On the contrary most of them maintain a sort of aloofness to maintain their mystique.
Managers seem to seek comfortable lives. They are planners and so avoid taking risks. They avoid situations which will lead to conflict and prefer to have cordial relationship with others. Leaders on the other hand, seem to seek risk. It is not that they are looking for thrills. The thing is that leaders have a vision and so, are ready to face any problems that they encounter in order to make that vision a reality.
There is a difference in the perspective of both. Whilst managers think incrementally, leaders think radically. You have all heard of the phrase “Managers do things right whereas leaders do the right thing.” So, while managers tend to do think by the book, leaders tend to go more by their intuition. A manager is pragmatic whereas a leader is more emotional. That is why we tend to follow leaders because they reach us at an emotional level. Management usually consists of people who are experienced in their field. They are people who know how the whole system works. A leader on the other hand can be a new employee with new ideas and vision, but without the necessary experience and wisdom to make it work.
So, will the twain never meet? They will and they do. As any management training expert will declare a great manager is one who is also a good leader. But, for a manager to be effective he cannot just be a leader. He needs the formal authority of management to be really effective. Similarly a leader needs to have some managerial skills if he has to realize his vision. We can go on about the differences between management and leadership. Understanding the differences is necessary so as to make the workplace more productive. And this what all management training programs and management training courses say.
The Differences Between Management and leadership - To learn more about this author, visit Sean McPheat's Website.
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Differences between Management and Leadership
‘Management and leadership’, usually these words are generally heard together. Are they interconnected? Are there any differences between them? This is a discussion that has been going on for some time and will be around for some time to come. It is a common topic for discussion in various management training programs and management training courses. The fact is that you cannot escape this topic if you are attending any type of management training program.
A leader is a person who leads whereas a manager is one who manages. This is not funny, but we have to start somewhere and what better than the basic definitions. The biggest difference as perceived by others is the way in which they motivate people. In life nothing is black or white, everything is a different shade of grey. Similarly a manager can be a leader and vice versa. So, we can have a combination of both.
Management training manuals will tell you that managers have subordinates. Managers are given some powers by the company and the subordinates have to do as they are told. The incentive for a subordinate to do what the manager says is the reward that is given. So, if the subordinate does as he/she is told they are going to get their pay. They are not blind robots but the incentive makes them behave like that. In contrast leaders have followers. And following is a voluntary activity. Leaders do not tell people what has to be done, instead they show them the way by taking initiative and doing things first. Leaders show them that if they follow the leader they are going to fulfill their heart’s desire.
What is the chief focus for a manager? Management training programs and management training courses will tell you that the chief focus for a manager should be a manager. They are paid to get things done. After all they are themselves subordinate to some other manager. They often have deadlines looming ahead so they cannot afford focusing on anything else. Leaders on the other hand focus on people. They have a way with people; they give credit to others and take blame themselves. This creates a loyal base of followers around them. This doesn’t mean that they are very friendly with their followers. On the contrary most of them maintain a sort of aloofness to maintain their mystique.
Managers seem to seek comfortable lives. They are planners and so avoid taking risks. They avoid situations which will lead to conflict and prefer to have cordial relationship with others. Leaders on the other hand, seem to seek risk. It is not that they are looking for thrills. The thing is that leaders have a vision and so, are ready to face any problems that they encounter in order to make that vision a reality.
There is a difference in the perspective of both. Whilst managers think incrementally, leaders think radically. You have all heard of the phrase “Managers do things right whereas leaders do the right thing.” So, while managers tend to do think by the book, leaders tend to go more by their intuition. A manager is pragmatic whereas a leader is more emotional. That is why we tend to follow leaders because they reach us at an emotional level. Management usually consists of people who are experienced in their field. They are people who know how the whole system works. A leader on the other hand can be a new employee with new ideas and vision, but without the necessary experience and wisdom to make it work.
So, will the twain never meet? They will and they do. As any management training expert will declare a great manager is one who is also a good leader. But, for a manager to be effective he cannot just be a leader. He needs the formal authority of management to be really effective. Similarly a leader needs to have some managerial skills if he has to realize his vision. We can go on about the differences between management and leadership. Understanding the differences is necessary so as to make the workplace more productive. And this what all management training programs and management training courses say.
The Differences Between Management and leadership - To learn more about this author, visit Sean McPheat's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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