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What is the Difference Between Leaders and Managers!

Part 1

By Victoria Treacy

Leaders and managers- the words are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Those in management positions do not always possess the qualities and skills of a leader. On the other hand, leadership is just one of the many skills that a manager must possess. Yet, the lack of leadership in an organization can have many negative effects on the organization’s employees and the business as a whole. Many companies who were once strong, who had knowledgeable employees and quality products and services,have failed due to the lack of leadership in their organizations. Traditional management teachings have taught us that being a manager automatically made you a leader; that being a leader came with a position of authority. The changing business environment and further research into leadership is showing us that we need to change our view of what makes a leader and that today’s managers need to implement leadership skills into their company in order to survive. I would like to discuss my research on the differences between managing and leading in an organization, the effects that the two have on the performance of their employees, and the benefits of possessing both managerial and leadership qualities.

A leader must possess all of the personality traits of a successful manager. Dessler (2001) says, “managers should have analytical competence (the ability to identify, analyze, and solve problems), interpersonal competence (the ability to influence, supervise, and lead), and emotional competence (the capacity to be stimulated by emotional and interpersonal crises)” (p.11). They must also have additional traits in order to exhibit leadership qualities.

According to Dessler (2001):

The idea that leaders are characterized by certain traits was initially inspired by a “great man” concept of leadership. The evidence indicates that there are certain core traits on which significantly contribute to business leaders’ success. Six traits on which leaders differ from non-leaders include drive, the desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business (pp.296-297).

There are also additional qualities that a successful leader should possess in order to be an effective leader.

According to an article posted on the University of Missouri website:

Humor and warmth are effective in most leadership situations. It is also important for leaders to be persuasive. Using good communication skills you must be able to speak effectively in public and in most cases, you must have good writing skills also. A good leader needs to have patience, especially when introducing change into an organization. Leaders must also be perceptive and sensitive to other people’s wants and needs. One of the most important traits needed by a leader is honesty and trustworthiness. Most people believe and follow someone they trust.

It is theory that personality creates leaders, in turn saying that leaders are born and not made.

The two leadership, theories that concentrate, on this point are the great man/great woman theory and trait theories.

Christine de Neuville explains (Are managers leaders?):

The great man/great woman theory, involves its followers believing that major events, both nationally and internationally, are influenced by those persons in power. The trait theory expands further on this conjecture, by concentrating on the personal characteristics of the leader. The traits an individual has may, increase the probability that a person will become a leader, though whether such leadership is guaranteed, is uncertain. Nevertheless, it can be seen to be true that some people are more likely than others to assume leadership positions.

As we learn more about leadership, we are discovering that leadership can be taught and developed. The personality traits that I have discussed are inherent in most leaders, but do not always predetermine them. In some leaders, certain traits are stronger than others and are used depending on the situation. “These traits are “tools of the trade”. Not all of them will be used in every leadership situation, but like other tools, they are available if needed. All of these characteristics can be developed or attained. None are genetic, although some of the traits may be gifts of wise parents to some very fortunate people. For many of us, they are the results of hard work over years of time” (University of Missouri). Therefore, leaders are not just born leaders, they can be made.

Jim Clemmer’s view of the leader is:

A leader doesn’t just react and respond, but rather takes the initiative and generates action. A leader doesn’t say “something should be done”, but ensures something is done. An effective leader is a “people person”. Effective leaders connect, stay in contact with, and are highly visible to everyone on their team in their organization. Leaders have developed the skills of supercharging logic, data, and analysis with emotion, pride, and the will to win. Their passion and enthusiasm for the team or organization’s vision and purpose is highly contagious. They fire the imaginations, develop the capabilities, and build the confidence of people to “go for it”. Leaders help people believe the impossible is possible, which makes it highly probable. (Managing things and leading people)

It is important to have some if not all of these qualities, but what is even more critical is how they are put into action. The roles of a leader and a manager play an important part in how these two roles differ. Basically, the role of a manager is planning, organizing, controlling, and leading. But, more than these four things, Dessler says that “managers also wear various hats including the figurehead role, every manager spends some time performing ceremonial duties; the leader role, every manager must function as a leader, motivating and encouraging employees; the liaison role, managers spend a lot of time in contact with people outside their own departments, essentially acting as a liaison between their departments and other people within and outside the organization; the spokesperson role, the manager is often the spokesperson for his or her organization; and the negotiator role, managers spend a lot of time negotiating” (pp.8-9). A manager is expected to perform many roles and needs to perform them well in order to be effective.

According to Abraham Zaleznik of Harvard Business School:

A managerial culture emphasizes rationality and control. Whether his or her energies are directed toward goals, resources, organization structures, or people, a manager is a problem solver. A manager requires that many people operate efficiently at different levels of status and responsibility. It takes neither genius nor heroism to be a manager, but rather persistence, tough-mindedness, analytical ability, and perhaps most important, tolerance and goodwill. Managers tend to adopt impersonal, if not passive, attitudes toward goals. Managerial goals arise out of necessities rather than desires and, therefore, are deeply embedded in their organization’s history and culture. Managers tend to view work as an enabling process involving some combination of people and ideas interacting to establish strategies and make decisions. They help the process along by calculating the interests in opposition, planning when controversial issues should surface, and reducing tensions.

The role of the leader does differ from the role of the manager. Allen J. Huth (Born to lead or made to manage- we need both) says the major differences between leaders and managers are “leaders have willing followers and managers get result through other people; leaders use influence and managers must have authority; leaders earn the right to lead from followers and with managers, the right to manage is granted by ownership; leaders ask (cannot use coercion) and managers tell (must be able to use coercion); leaders have personal power and managers have position power; and finally, leaders intend to make changes whereas managers produce goods and services.”

Another difference is that it is possible to be a leader without being in a position of authority. Karen Robbins (1998) says, “It is possible to lead when working with those that outrank you and also when entering a new organization. Managing may be more analytical, while leading may be more intuitive and visionary.” Basically, leadership is getting people to follow you. Leadership is, and should be a role of the manager. This leading aspect of management involves influencing others towards the achievement of organizational goals. “Leaders motivate employees, communicate, manage groups and teams, and manage organizational and cultural change” (Dessler (2001) p.291). The role of the leader is empowerment of employees. According to Barbara Taylor (1996), “A leader acts as a role model and coaches and mentors others” (www.itstime.com).

Abraham Zaleznik, a professor at Harvard Business School says:

Leaders think about goals. They are active instead of reactive, shaping ideas instead of responding to them. Leaders adopt a personal and active attitude toward goals. The influence a leader exerts in altering moods, evoking images and expectations, and in establishing specific desires and objectives determines the direction a business takes. The net result of this influence changes the way people think about what is desirable, possible, and necessary. He also states that leaders develop fresh approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options. To be effective, leaders must project their ideas onto images that excite people and only then develop choices that give those images substance.

In the book “The Leadership Challenge” (Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (1995) p.18), the authors state that there are “Ten Commitments of Leadership” that coincide with the role of the leader. They are as follows:

o Search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve.

o Experiment, take risks, and learn from the accompanying mistakes.

o Envision an uplifting and ennobling future.

o Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes, and dreams.

o Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.

o Strengthen people by giving power away, providing choice, developing competence, assigning critical tasks, and offering visible support.

o Set the example by behaving in ways that are consistent with shared values.

o Achieve small wins that promote consistent progress and build commitment.

o Recognize individual contributions to the success of every project.

o Celebrate team accomplishments regularly.

When a manager does not possess leadership skills and results in the lack of leadership in

an organizational environment, there can be many negative effects on the employees and the organization as a whole. Lack of leadership impacts the morale, productivity, motivation, loyalty, and employee turnover in an organization.

According to John P. Kotter, author of The Leadership Factor (1988), there are various ways in which firms demonstrate they do not have the proper leadership in their organizations:

o They have an inadequate management, because they do not attract and retain sufficient people with leadership potential in the first place, and because they do not fully develop much of the potential possessed by the employees they do attract and retain, and because they fail to motivate (or allow) people to lead.

o Their inability to attract, develop, retain, and motivate sufficient leadership potential can be traced to a multitude of inadequate practices: the way they handle college recruiting, the infrequency with which they move people across divisions and functions to broaden them, the lack of coaching and support from bosses, and much more.

o Most inadequate practices are created by two very powerful forces that operate inside the firms; short-term economic pressures and parochial politics. These forces influence practices both directly by shaping managerial behavior, and indirectly by influencing culture, structure, and systems.

The overall syndrome is a relatively new phenomenon, the product of a changing business environment, which is demanding more and more leadership, and the firm’s inability (so far) to adapt successfully to the environment. (pp.63-64)

Part 2 of this article will be published in the December issue of weLEAD Online Magazine.

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About the author:

Victoria Treacy has worked in management positions for retailers such as Macy's Herald Square in NYC and Talbots. She has also worked for Nordstrom in Visual Merchandising. She is currently working as a program advisor for a tutorial publisher. Victoria has earned an Associate Degree in Fashion Buying & Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and is currently completing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from Bellevue University.

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Dessler, G. (2001). Management: Leading people into the 21^st. century. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Publishers.

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