Leadership and Management are not Twins, they are Long Lost Cousins

The correlation between leadership and management has been the topic of discussion for many decades. But still there is no clear definition – Does a manager have to be a good leader? Or does a leader need to have great managerial skills?

What is the difference between leadership and management? Peter Drucker states leadership vs. management as – “Management is doing things right while leadership is doing the right things.”

The Concept of Leadership vs. Management

Leadership is the skill of an individual to encourage, influence and enable others to put in efforts to achieve organizational success. On the other hand, management is to direct and control a team for the sake of achieving pre-decided goals.

Leaders are people-oriented and they are willing to take risks and strive for achievements while managers are task-oriented and their main focus is to gain results without involving much risk. Leaders have a great charisma along with high level of imagination and risk-taking habits while managers are problem solvers, they are more focused towards the goal and engage in achieving it through persistence, analysis, and strong will.

Leadership

• Leaders tend to lead by example, empowering and inspiring their team.
• Leaders have followers, who truly have a high regard for them.
• Leaders usually focus on the long-term goals and possibilities.
• Great leaders are highly persuasive.
• They make decision-making easier for their team.
• They are very innovative and their work is the evidence of their imagination.
• Has the ability to build strong relationships with and among team members.
• One of the main traits of a leader is that he is a good listener. Listening is what enables him to get to the root cause of a particular problem and come up with a better solution.
• Leaders play a remarkable role as a coach, counselor, and a mentor.
• Leadership styles can be Transformational, Participative, and Consultative.

 Management

• Managers gain power through their position and formal authority.
• Managers have subordinates, instead of followers.
• Managers are usually focused on achieving short-term goals, which have high priority.
• They ensure that tasks are completed within the defined time frame.
• They are highly involved in decision-making.
• They are the ultimate problem-solvers, they make sure that all the problems are addressed and eliminated effectively.
• Plays a major role in planning, budgeting, organizing, controlling, and coordinating for accomplishing given tasks.
• Some of the management styles are Dictatorial, Transactional, Consultative, Autocratic, Democratic, and Authoritative.

Many times, managers prove to be great leaders, so the paradox is never-ending. But at least, we can now clearly distinguish between leadership and management.