Management & Leadership

Management and Leadership, two components that are important factors in an organization. Leadership and art and management a science, this explains the diversity of leadership and the structure of management. Both have their differences but also have similarities that tie the two together. There is a fair thin line between the differences and the similarities of these two categories, which will then be described, in this following blog. A discussion point of view on what the CMI (CMI 2013) has suggested will be mentioned.

The definition of “Leadership” means “ the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members”. However, the definition of “Management” means embracing controlling and directing a group of one or more people to lead and synchronize the group towards accomplishing a specific goal or target. In the two categories the people presenting leadership or management personalities will tend to portray different styles.

Similarities:

Either being a leader or a manager requires leading people and subordinates. However the main focuses for both are how to manage with people, being one or more than one. A leader and a manager must have good communication and social skills and will both be comfortable working in a workforce area. The relationships towards their followers or subordinates must be of a good relation in order to give out tasks or regulate and supervise them without them feeling uncomfortable. In order to be a leader, good management skills are required and in order to be a good manager significant leadership skills are also required. This shows that at the end of the day these two categories will always bind together as one will need the skills of another. Decent regular training for both would be respectable in order to lead and manage without fault.

Differences:

There are also a few differences such as how leaders have the essence of change whereas managers have the essence of stability. Leaders are always changing their style due to their followers and how the surroundings change, leaders are always ready to adapt to new situations. Manager’s stick to structured ways of handling their subordinates, stability and controlling comes before hand. Leaders focus on leading people and their approach is mainly strategic; leaders also have followers and have passion as energy. Manager’s focus on managing work and there approach is operational, managers also have subordinates and have the term “control” as an energy. Leaders are likely to strive, take risks and want achievements whereas managers take action and wants results in their end outcome.

The best approach does vary according to circumstances and individual characteristics (CMI2013), this is true due to different companies have different behavioral working spaces and different ways on how the organization is managed. At the end of the day, no employee wants to feel pressured in working or uncomfortable, so exploring the working force of the employees within the business is an important factor before knowing to be a leader or a manager. Once the right tactic has been used with employees, they are willing to work more efficiently without troublesome and insecurity. This factor will lead a good working environment within the business and possibly allow the business to grow enhancing.

From reading employee feedbacks and having experience myself, I would rather be led by a leader. This is due to many factors including the passion that they already have for the job. Leaders are more striving and excited in the work. They have a larger vision and do not only work for money. From past experience managers do not interact with employees as much and do not get to understand the behavior of the working space they are in which is an important factor when wanting to manage subordinates or become a leader. Managers are hard to get to and do not pay as much attention to the employees needs but rather focus on the work they are assigned to and how to get the employees to get the job done. Leaders give credit and take the blame whereas managers take the credit and give the blame.

References:

Armstrong, M. (2004) Handbook of Management and Leadership: A Guide to Managing for Results. Edition, Kogan Page Business Books

Burke, R. (2010) Essentials Of Management And Leadership In Public Health. 1 Edition, Jones & Bartlett Learning

Credit Union Business (2014) Leadership vs. Management: Differences and Similarities [online] available from <http://www.creditunionbusiness.com/2013/09/19/leadership-vs-management differences-and-similarities/> [04 March 2014]

Diffen (2014) Leadership vs Management – Difference and Comparison [online] available from <http://www.diffen.com/difference/Leadership_vs_Management> [04 March 2014]

Youtube (2011) Top 10 Differences Between Management and Leadership. [Online Video]. 09 October. Available from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ubRzzirRKs> [04 March 2014].