LEADERSHIP Vs MANAGEMENT. The Difference between leadership and management. Fundamental Characteristics for a Leader to become a Great Leader.
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT – RELATED YET FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT
Nowadays, everyone is a manager or has been a manager, and a new term has taken over the exalted position in the corporate vocabulary: ‘leader’.
Management was and is traditionally practiced from a top-down perspective. With all due respect for the underlings, but still … You develop your vision, mission, and strategy and impose it. Where practicable without resort to violence, and ideally with some measure of tact. A relatively simple procedure, within the grasp of nearly all primates.
But leadership is not so easily practiced. Because leadership – this is still widely misunderstood – works from the bottom up. You are a leader, not because someone appointed you, but because others see and accept you in that capacity. At many management training institutes these days Leadership Development is the most popular theme. But in truth, how often have we seen anyone become a leader as a result of such programs? In essence you can only be a leader and strive to become a better one. The most important condition for embodying leadership is, that others feel that you are not out there to take care of number one, but that you are there for them, or for something even more all-encompassing. In short that you stand for something which transcends your self-interest.
Leadership is closely related to management, but wholly different in fundamental aspects. The close relationship is caused by the fact that the one usually does not go without the other. To be effective, a manager needs to be a good leader. Equally, to be effective, a leader needs to be a good manager, or at least a passable one. In real life this combination is rare, because the qualities needed for leadership are so vastly different from the qualities needed for management that it is hard to master both in perfection. The difference is in the mental make-up:
Managers are good at directing people, making sure that they co-operate, that the things that need doing get done on time. Where necessary they rely on their status in the organisation – their power to hire and fire, humble or promote, create or crush careers – to achieve the set goals. The best of them deserve gold medals for drive and self-restraint. Leaders see opportunities beyond the horizon, dreams that might one day be realised, ideas too beautiful to relegate to the dustbin just because they seem unrealistic today. The best may not care much for medals, but are amply rewarded as they observe how their vision, fire and tenacity inspire those around them. They rely not on power, but on the respect in which they are held. Their relationship with co-workers is often highly personal and intense, and their demeanour may be chaotic and baffling at times – annoying even, but easy to forgive because of their palpable commitment.
Managers base their goals on what they deem necessary.
Leaders base their goals on what they deem desirable.
The difference between leadership and management was beautifully elucidated by Abraham Zaleznik in his famous article in the Harvard Business Review, ‘Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?’ Leaders, he said, are inspired, visionary people who are concerned with content, whereas managers are concerned with the process. Psychologically they have an entirely different reaction to order and chaos, and an entirely different concept of their role:
Managers
hate chaos and in security
tend to plunge into the process to sort things out and bring order
strive for control and predictability
find compromises
try to find a workable solution as quickly as possible – often without having thought out all the ramifications of the situation
do things right.
Leaders
are highly tolerant of insecurity
can live with lack of structure and even chaos for extended periods of time without becoming unduly stressed
strive to inspire
find reconciliations
postpone decision-making till they have a clear picture of all aspects of the situation (like artists, experimental scientists and other creative thinkers)
do the right things.
But for a leader to become a great leader, more is required than these instrumental differences. We trust that you have your own criteria to add, but these seem to be fundamental:
Great leaders
pair leaders’ capacity to create something out of chaos with vision and passion
inject the moral strength required to let their organisations play a role of importance in the world
attain greatness less by doing than by being.
