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Managers vs leaders
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Managers vs leaders
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Today many jobs promote to manageemnt positions based on time within the company or next in the chain of command without taking into consideration their ability to lead. What separates a leader from a
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Managers vs leaders
posted at 10/10/2002 2:40 PM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 10/10/2002 Last: 10/10/2002 |
Today many jobs promote to manageemnt positions based on time within the company or next in the chain of command without taking into consideration their ability to lead. What separates a leader from a manager? What qualities does a leader have that a manager does not? |
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Managers vs leaders
posted at 10/15/2002 10:11 AM EDT
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Posts: 71
First: 7/19/2002 Last: 4/5/2011 |
I would differentiate between a manager and a leader this way. The classical definition of a manager is a person who achieves the organization's objectives through the efforts of others. Leaders are also managers in that they also accomplish organizational objectives through others, however, leaders usually add other vital ingredients to success that managers without great leadership skills may lack.
Leaders have the ability to articulate, and gain, a shared vision of success that includes ongoing organizational renewal and continuous improvement, a focus on values and ethical actions and customer service. Leaders have the ability to see the organization through the eyes of significant others, the stakeholders (customers, shareholders, managers, employees, customers, unions, special interest groups) and have the ability to appropriately balance the interests of those affected by decisions. One of the best business books written by leadership guru, James O'Toole, is "Vanguard Management" (1985) where he argues for stakeholder symmetry in organizations and the art of leadership is knowing which stakeholders interests to hold preeminent at critical moments in time. For example, in the 1980s it was not the corporations, but the special interest groups that determined the environmental agendas. It was organizations like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace and the native communities that forced many companies to become environmentally friendly, rather than corporations recognizing this in advance and not be forced to reply screaming, fighting and kicking. Good leaders in industry recognized the issues facing their companies and ensured that these stakeholders didn't determine the agendas as they acted proactively, finding it showed up positively on the balance sheet. In British Columbia, Canada, the natives forced changes in forestry practices by making their cases directly to the major companies customers such as Scott Paper in the United Kingdom and the New York Times. The allegations that paper was being produced from old growth timber were made successfully even though they were patently false. However, it did cause companies to lose contracts because the consumers of the paper produced, feared the retribution of their customers. Now companies have changed their forestry practices and work with native communities much more closely as they know they can't win the public relations war. True leadership is doing the right thing, not because you have a demonstration out front to contend with, but because you knew in advance what was right for all stakeholders including, say, the environment. |
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Managers vs leaders
posted at 11/1/2005 7:17 AM EDT
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Posts: 26
First: 9/23/2005 Last: 7/3/2006 |
Leaders provide, inspiration, guidance, vision and a mission, they know when to step in and when to step out. They look at the big picture. People follow them as role models,they gain the respect of the people because they are fair, and humans. They may be hard, and harsh but they are fair.
Not all people in leadership positions are leaders. They get there because their skills are needed? or may be because they talk more than the others? or they have a loud mouth? not because the employees respect and follow them? Leaders are a rare specie. Think about the people you consider leaders and check their qualities. Your answer will be there. |
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Managers vs leaders
posted at 1/1/2006 9:42 PM EST
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Posts: 6
First: 12/18/2005 Last: 1/1/2006 |
There is a general perspective error about leadership and management. The word "leader" is used so much on any issue that, many managers want to become leaders, and in fact, they are led "wrongly" about this aim.
First of all, leadership is not something you can get with hard study, desire or by education. If there is a group at anywhere, it has a natural leader. This leader is usually the person that does the base activity of the group at its best. For example, if there is a group of racers, the leader will be the fastest runner. Leader may also be the most experienced or most charismatic of the group unless there is an absolute difference in activities. On the other hand, a manager is the person who applies the functions of management on people working under him/her. You can manage a group of plumbers, and they can respect you as a manager; but the leader of their group can be someone in them. Researches show that group study performance increase with informal factors. Therefore, a manager had better be the leader of a group. If he/she cannot, the leader may be found and he/she may be directed. Finally, I think a manager must try to control the dynamics of the group or people he/she directs instead of trying to be a leader. You see leadrs that lead its follwers from a desperate situation to the victory and want to achive something like that. These are "charismatic leaders" who come out at chaotic situations and rules people to ways on his/her mind. This is a good way to come through crises, but not the best way to go in normal situations. The ideal model is applying management functions correctly and groupthinking. |
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