Management versus Leadership

Bennis Updated Factors of Leadership
Barbara
More recently Bennis mentions 4 somewhat different or updated factors that are essential for leaders in an environment of complexity and turbo-change, regardless of culture and context:
1. Adaptive capacity (sense of resilience, hardiness and creativity, seizing opportunities, learning)(~Management of Attention?).
2. Capacity to engage followers in a shared meaning (~Management of Meaning).
3. Finding out who they themselves are (emotional intelligence, ~Management of Self).
4. Rely on a moral compass (a set of principles, a belief system, a set of convictions).
Depending on the context these 4 factors need to be supplemented with other factors. (Business, The Ult. Resource, 2nd edition, p259)

Background Bennis
Barbara
To appreciate the leadership thinking of Bennis well, you should know that he grew up during WWII, at the time when iconic figures such as Churchill, Roosevelt, Hitler and Mussolini were dominating the world. Furthermore, Bennis was an admirer of Douglas McGregor (Theory X Y). Bennis' thinking implements Theory Y from the perspective of leadership.

Re-unite Management and Leadership
Stan Heard
It seems that Leadership has been successfully removed from the work of Management in most everyone's mind. Management was once seen as the blending of four functions - Planning, Organizing, Leading and Auditing. Leadership was seen as the work a manager does to inspire others to pursue the goals of the organization.
Since Bennis has a new POEM for management, I wonder if anyone has ever successfully executed in an organizational environment without leading. Once you remove leading as work that a manager does, you can and must create all sorts of plausible reasons for failure. In the end it is all leadership failure. Maybe we should re-unite the concepts of Leadership and Management?

Natures of Managers and Leaders
David Arnold
Maybe a more fundamental viewpoint of management versus leadership perspectives lies within their fundamental natures (which I think Bennis is trying to luminate).
Manager - Tactics, shorter scope, objective based, detail driven (reacts to situations, plans based upon more immediate objectives)
Leader - Strategy, broad based, long range, directional (views threats, opportunities, resource needs, needed compentencies, etc.)

Leadership & Management
Sunil Saraf
Agreeing with others, it is opined that Leadership is the Soul of Management. This maxim is justified since the whole concept represents a process that originates from the compelling desire and dream envisioning the result, embedded with ability and willingness to move and exploit resources at command, to achieve the said desire.
Leadership is the softer aspect of management that is hard enough to inspire, instill and motivate given resources to deliver the results. If this is not true, the the questions remains: why someone leads?

Leadership-Vision versus Management-Control
Nkosinathi Zvimba, CxO / Board, United Kingdom, Member
Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that follows the leader`s vision.
A Leader is the spearhead for that new directon. For example Joshua Nkomo and Nelson Mandela both men were leaders of armed struggles against oppressive regimes, but they never carried a gun to fight the enemies directly but so many people followed their vision of a free society with equal rights for all the people.
Management controls and directs people or resources in a group, according to principles or values that are already established.

Difference Between Leader and Manager
Ahmed N. Qeshta
The leader can be a manager but the manager can not be a leader.
Leadership is created with the human because leadership is an inherent thing. Management is brought by studying its principles in the schools, institutes and universities, however leadership is not.
In spite of this the talk I want to say that humans can gain leadership via patience, perseverance and learning the leader character but he can not similar to real leader who is created as a leader, maybe I seem paradoxical with my talks but this is not, I see every word I am saying.

Leadership vs. Management
John Hannah, Consultant, United States, Member
I appreciate all that I learned from the various posts regarding this subject matter. However there might be an additional thought that I might suggest. The basic difference in a leader and a manager is the motivation of the one leading:
- Management denotes control of people, places or things. We all enjoy the title of manager or leader because it tends to elevate us.
- A leader is not so concerned about control but in accomplishing the vision. Rather than controlling, the leader assists others who want also to reach that vision.
This is not to diminish the leader's obligation of sharing and building a vision for the other. Vision of fulfilling a need or passion is what motivates. Once received, the leader then examples and facilitates for the other while pursuing the purpose.

Leaders PULL and Managers PUSH
Javier Elenes, Business Consultant, Mexico, Member
Joan Ginebra in her remarkable book 'Liderazgo y La Acción, Mitos y Realidades (Spanish Edition' (Leadership and Action) states that to be a leader you shall have followers which perceive that the the leader "wants my well being", " looks like he is able", "what he states is worthy". In brief he creates action to a pulling vision. This what I named motivation (motive for action),
The difference between Managers and Leaders is the process used to move people to a goal. The Manager use a PUSH process (defining what shall be done, goals, teaching how to do it, measuring the work done versus goals and rewarding / punishing the work well / bad done.
The Leader PULL his people to a worthy goal i.e. 'we will become a world class company' or 'we are building a new country' instead of: 'we need to increase productivity 300 % to reach international levels' By doing so they are generating MotivAction (Motives for Action to reach a worthy goal), (key communication of the goal as a worthy one to pursue).
PUSH = external motivation, PULL = internal motivation, (big challenges need inner. Transcendental motivation).

Differences Between Leader and Manager
Abdulrahaman Nashiru, Accountant, Nigeria, Member
I think one of the differences between leader and manager is the way they are getting things done:
- The leader get things done by carrying every member of the group along. A leader always has the masses interest in his mind.
- The manager can employ another method either autocratic style of getting things done. He has the interest of the company in his mind when deliberating on issues.

Leadership is about Vision and Management is about Best Practices
Brown, Consultant, United States, Member
Vision is the essence of leadership (doing the right thing) and best practices are the essence of management (doing things right).
They coexist within every great leader and every great manager.

Leadership versus Management versus Boss - Same or Different Meaning?
Erdohegyi Gabor , Management Consultant, Hungary, Member
Leadership and management are different ideas for their nature.
- "Leadership" is a feature based on special personal talent and ability. A leader is a person who is trusted, admired, loved and followed by others voluntarily. He/she leads his/her people.
- "Management" is a profession subject to a "manager" position (with proper education, knowledge, skills, etc.).
A manager is always appointed by his/her majors and called "boss".
While a leader is acclaimed mostly informally, sometimes it can happen formally too.
"Leaders" usually become and perform as outstanding bosses, if they are appointed and accepted it.
Ununfortunately officially appointed "managers/bosses" are rarely of a true "leader" character, which is a pity. In the ideal case, a boss owns both "leadership" and "management" characteristics.

Differences Between Manager and Leader
Emmanuel Reyme, Director, United States, Member
@Abdulrahaman Nashiru:
Every post during this fascinating debate makes sense. In a simple way, leadership is the ingredient that makes the food perfect.
Have you ever been in different restaurants, enjoying the same type of a specific food, but with different taste? The generic food is the management having to implement its regular four business functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Balance among these four constitutes what an organization needs to be successful. If the chef, the (manager) lacks vision and creativity, imagine how catastrophic will be the rest...
A manager without the ability to inspire digs his/her own hole to failure. A manager must have a piece of leadership in his background, considering leadership as a stand alone discipline. A perfect manager is the one who masters that discipline. Manager and leader may not be taken interdependently: a leader may not be a manager. In this case, he must hire a manager to handle the missing aspects.

Can Managers become Leaders...
Shankar, Manager, India, Member
@Ahmed N. Qeshta : That is right. All managers cannot become leaders. There are very efficient managers who may not be interested in becoming leaders. If a manager is asked to lead, then "Peter's Principle" may set in.

Leadership and Management
Schubert Pereira
They are different. Leadership is characterized by 1. two-way trust and 2. genuine caring for the people they lead.
I agree that managers with fantastic POEM-skills cannot become leaders, if they do not have these 2 leadership skills.

Evolving from a Manager to a Leader
Maureen Bridget Rabotin, Coach, France, Member
Great insights, thanks to all. Good management has the potential to evolve into visionary leadership if the person seeking that role has personal leadership ingrained in him or her. To be a leader is not about privileges, power or prestige. People feel empowered and are naturally accountable to an authentic leader who sees commitment to the bigger picture for all concerned. He (she) is there to pull everyone towards a realistic dream, not to just stand in the spotlight.
The time has come to look at the leader within.

A Manager without Leadership Qualities
Radha Raj, India, Member
How can a manager function effectively without leadership qualities? Without this, the manager will end up being just a boss, who has a position and power, but has no clue about how to motivate his team and achieve the targets.

Management and Leadership
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
In my simple world, the manager puts the right piece of a puzzle in the right hole, while the leader makes the piece enjoy being in the hole.
In other words: the manager chooses the right person for a particular task/job, while the leader makes the incumbent WANT to be there. Maybe I am being simplistic, but for me, it works.

Leadership versus Management
Belmiro Isaac
Leadership and management are totally different, management without leadership always has a tendency of imposing tasks to be implemented, whereby leadership will inspire, lead or guide the team to put their input in whatever task there is to be executed.
Management: objective bound
Leadership: broader, inspirational and visionary approach.

Missing Characters in MAST
E. von Ammon, Business Consultant, Switzerland, Member
I agree to Isaac Belmiro, and leadership means Creativity (vision) as well as knowledge of Dramaturgy. There is a C and a D missing in MAST...

A Leader Aligns his Energy towards the Spirit behind the Service
srinivas, Lecturer, India, Member
In my view, a person is leading if he is aligning his energy towards the spirit behind the service. If for example the decisions a leader is making and the actions he is taking are in line with the spirit behind the service, then he is actually leading, otherwise not.
The greater the degree of alignment of his choices and actions in relation towards the spirit the better the leader he is.
For example, eat to live and not live to eat is the principle, and in its true spirit a person is living by aligning his decisions and actions then he is leading. Similar is the case with regard to business leadership I suppose.

Leadership is about Following; Management is about Obeying
Francisco Mucanheia, Strategy Consultant, Mozambique, Member
People obey a manager.
People follow a leader.
That means that a manager is there to command a formal authority, while the leader will irradiate deep inspiration on the people around.
People will miss a leader, not a manager.

Leadership, Management and the Essential Difference
Earle Taylor, Turnaround Manager, United States, Member
Managers need things, tools, techniques, technologies and organizations.
Leaders need people, form organizations, engage and inspire managers through their ideas and passion. They provide managers with the things, tools, techniques and technologies to solve and resolve problems.

Leaders and Managers
Robin Pagano, Consultant, Brazil, Member
Perfect! There are leaders and there are managers, but those ones who are both will make the difference.
Managers must give attention to activities, work with goals and processes, need methods.
Leaders must give attention to people, work with culture and vision, need to know themselves.

Leaders and Managers
Nii Torto, Accountant, Ghana, Member
The leader seeks the questions while the manager seeks the answers. An individual can be a good manager and yet not be an effective leader; but it seems very unlikely that an individual can be a good leader without also being a good manager.. (Gaither, 2007).

The Leader versus the Manager
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
A leader touches the heart and soul, while keeping his gaze beyond the horizon, and though his presence is tangible his ‘actions’ are intangible. He ‘is’ and since he doesn’t talk about this, everyone knows that he ‘is.’ The manager, by contrast, though he does possess some leadership skills, yet he goes about beating his own trumpet, and short-term successes are his real goal.

Both Management & Leadership are Valuable and Needed for Success
Emmanuel Mwirichia, Manager, Kenya, Member
We all value leadership as it inspires and motivates the followers to get the job done because they identify/resonate with the leader.
However, I have also come to appreciate the role of management and the use of said power/authority to get things done even when the team may not be pro the decision made.
In an organisation there is a need to have both good leadership and good management for overall success and attainment of goals.

Management and Leadership
Mohamed Mahgoub, Consultant, United Arab Emirates, Member
Obviously, there are areas of commonality between both, but there are also unique elements for each. I see leadership as being ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf sees it as "a combination of strategy and character. Ralph Nader views, "the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." Bill Gates agrees with Henrik Ibsen in that leaders will be those who empower others; and that they should prepare everyone to take the helm of the ship. As such, leadership is about influencing and bringing people together, creating a road map and ensuring continuity of the cause even when the leader disappears.
Management, on the other hand, is the organization and coordination of the activities of an organization in accordance with certain policies to clearly defined objectives. Leaders do not conform to rules or policies. Their role is to work outside the system.
Peter F. Drucker (and others) have simply put it this way, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things".

Management: Go! Leadership: Let's Go!
Aditya Sud, Student (MBA), India, Member
I believe the manager says "go"...
And a leader says "let's go".
This explains most of the major differences in a nutshell.

Leadership versus Management
rio-roshi merit, Student (University), Nigeria, Member
@John Hannah: I so much appreciate your light on this issue. To further contribute to your saying, I will say;
- Leadership is inbuilt, they are natural qualities few amongst many people possess, leadership takes empathy and spirituality to be executed. Leaders are people minded, they just want to see people succeed, they don't adopt that thought of getting things done through others rather, they initiate their own thought; getting things done together faster and fantastic!
- Managers only live on theories and principles of others...
It is so visible that leaders are not artificial, they are natural people, they just give in to the achievement of goal without expecting to be paid first. They enjoy doing their work with passion which in turn reflects beautiful results.

Leadership versus Management hard to Differentiate and Dependent on Culture
Stephen Okeyo, Professor, Kenya, Member
Very good reflections on management and leadership expressing the points of divergence.
I wonder if some colleagues get a sense that in certain social and cultural contexts the difference is sometimes blurred, even obliterated. In my ethnic group it is difficult to find definitions that would differentiate the two, and a manager is at once regarded and called a leader.

Management is about Coaching; Leadership is about Showing Direction
ISAAC E. OGBUKA PhD, Nigeria, Member
There is a very thin line between management and leadership. Management is about coaching, and constant coaching until expected result is achieved, while leadership is about showing direction, strategies and a way forward.

Management and Leadership
kowe joseph olushola, United Kingdom, Member
- Leadership plays essential roles in the management and coordinating organizational elements to achieve the desired growth, in accordance with the organizational goals and mission. Leaders have been seen to excel in some critical skills:
1. inspirational vision of accomplishment (Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs),
2. communication
3. better quality-verdict.
4. Some level/sort of authority to function very well in the leadership capacity. An ability to lead people and motivate the workforce toward the intended goals of the organization.
- On the other hand management is the organization of people, essentially to be more prolific in their day-to-day activities in the organization.

Leadership versus Management : AMP Motivators
tan liong choon, Management Consultant, Singapore, Member
Very interest theories and concepts on management and leaders.
I would like to add the other half of the equation i.e. the perspective of the people who are being managed or led.
Dan Pink (What Motivates Us: Not What You Think) highlighted a new perspective of how to handle the new Y-generations of people. He coined it "AMP Motivators":
A = Autonomy (manage by engaging people, allowing them autonomy over time, team, task and technique;),
M = Mastery (skills and feedback about those skills to do the job)
P = Purpose (some higher order value or meaning to the person doing the job beyond money).

Leaders are Unquestionable; Managers must Explain and Prove
Aldo Bettini, Business Consultant, Panama, Member
- A leader tends to be unquestionable, he creates followers through his charisma to fulfill a vision he transmits.
- A manager must explain and prove that his methods are right, thus working to reach an established common goal.

Management focuses on How; Leadership focuses on Why
Leodegardo M. Pruna, Professor, Philippines, Member
- POEM (Bennis' management acronym) is about structure and focuses on the HOW.
- MAST (Bennis' leadership acronym) is about content and substance and focuses on the WHY.

Management and Leadership According to Bennis
Leena Bissoonauth, Student (University), Mauritius, Member
Management: POEM-acronym: Systematic approach for the success of management. Plan, organise, execute and measure / monitor are the qualities managers need to have.
Leadership: MAST-acronym: management of meaning: leaders' action as a social process in understanding the way leadership actions attempt to shape and interpret situations to guide organisational members in a common interpretation of reality (Management of Attention). The leader's action may generate a variety of interpretations that set the basis for meaningful actions (Management of Meaning).
Leaders can also be managers. Management of Self - they have self awareness to be able to relate successfully to others, Management of Trust - they create a participative leadership style.
Leaders have followers and motivate them further. Give vision and inspiration for future direction. They emphasize hierarchy but diffuse authority whereas managers emphasize hierarchy, chain of command.
In the globalized environment managers are not limited only to the traditional definition but much more as a leader.

Managers must Learn how to Lead
NYAMEKA MAKITSHI, Manager, South Africa, Member
Management needs the element of leadership, in its known definition. It is understood that not all managers are great leaders, but that quality is essential. Yet it is understood to be a mostly inborn quality.
When a manager has a strategy in place, he or she may not be able to do that without leading. These two should go hand in hand and therefore a manager has to learn how to lead.

Management must be Leaders. Especially these Days.
Adedayo Rotimi Muyiwa, Student (University), Nigeria, Member
@Nyameka Makitshi : I agree and strongly believe that any successful aspiring manager must imbibe and develop strong leadership traits, especially in the present generation whereby the most workforce is exposed not just through formal education at schools but also through everyday social interactions.
This means that a manager to be successful must have a willing followership that is inspired.

1. Go! 2. Let's Go! or: 3. I Will Go! Who Joins me?
Ulrich Schweiker, Director, Germany, Member
@Aditya Sud: well, it may be there is another perspective: I will go! Who joins me?
Looking at the complex system of leaders and followers, there are no leaders without followers...

Managers, Leaders and Hierarchy
MICHAEL PETIT, PHD, Director, Australia, Member
Both managers and leaders exist in hierarchies:
- Managers are appointed to positions in the formal hierarchy of the organisation by people in a higher position within that formal hierarchy. They are trusted to reinforce the legitimacy of the formal hierarchy and to think and act in ways that are considered legitimate by those higher in the formal hierarchy.
- Leaders may hold management positions in the formal hierarchy, but that is not what makes a person a leader. A leader is not a leader because they hold a position in the formal organisational hierarchy. A leader is elevated to a position of leadership by other people who believe that they make and provide the most sense to the circumstances that they confront. A leader is someone that has been given the right to define, represent and speak on behalf of a group by that group.
Management theory that privileges the formal organisation over the informal organization and treats leadership as a set of attributes rather than a relationship is the root cause of the confusion.

Managers Deal with Things
Maria Montero, Coach, Venezuela, Member
I find very logical the approach Stephen Covey gives to this issue. He says managers deal with things, leaders deal with people. Both are very important, and as leaders we must be sure to address people in their four dimensions: mind, heart, body and spirit, so the member of our teams will be fully committed and empowered. As leaders we must be whole persons, balanced in those four dimensions so we become role models and by doing this we build trust. We are totally integrated. We are not fragmented.

Manager and a Leader
Pedro Viagem, Manager, Angola, Member
Thanks all for your very interesting posts. A leader is born with leadership skills; he does not need a lot of theoretical lessons to become a very good leader. Samora Machel had only primary school, but he became one of the best leaders born in Africa. A leader should be able to motivate others to follow his vision, strategy, direction, even if the goal that needs to be met is wrong.
We all know that Hitler had immoral objectives and incomprehensible to human civilization but he was a strong leader because he managed to motivate people around him.
A manager is there to help the organization to meet its objectives using planning, coordination, control, supervisory and other techniques.

Leadership is Born + Made
Mohamed Mahgoub, Consultant, United Arab Emirates, Member
@Pedro Viagem : Some world class leaders disagree with this position:
- Vince Lombardi states, "leaders aren't born- they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal".
- Also, Warren bennis thinks that, "the most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born -- that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born". I tend to thinks that it is a combination of both, i.e. inherent qualities augmented with learning, visualizing and hard work.

---

Editor: I believe that's correct, Mohamed. But let's add 'circumstances' to your last sentence. Often great leaders emerge because and at the moment they feel a strong urge/calling to do something about certain circumstances. Examples : Ghandi (poverty and surpression in India by the English), Martin Luther King (poor position and discrimination of black people in USA), Nelson Mandela (apartheid in SA). See discussion: Can Leadership be Generated or is it a Born Gift?.
By the way, the same is also true for managers (born and made). See discussion: Managers: Born or Made?

Management and Leadership
Ian Graham, Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
Terry White must be a good leader; why else have we all followed him in giving our opinions on this subject? A good leader will always ask the group for their opinions/ideas/suggestions etc... Then listens and pays attention to those around him/her; once all avenues have been visited the leader will choose the one that best meets the overall goal/objective etc... Well done Terry - good topic!

Management is about Self, Leadership is about Selflessness
EMMANUEL, Student (University), Nigeria, Member
I think leading people is based on selflessness while managing people is aimed on self.
A leader works to please his people and a manager works to satisfy him/herself
It's easier to manage than to lead...

Summary of Management versus Leadership
Donasian Mbonea, HR Consultant, Tanzania, Member
- Management is getting things done through other people, while leadership is showing the way.
- Managers have subordinates while leaders have followers, leaders are always good with people.
- Managers have a position of authority vested in them by the company and their subordinates work for them. Leaders lead by inspiration.
- Managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing.

Manager also Needs to Be a Leader
Priya Rathore, HR Consultant, India, Member
A leader can become a manager. However to manage, you also need to be a good leader. According to the Five Sources (Bases) of Power Model, a manager who does not have a lot of referent power, will have to use other sources viz legitimate power, cooercive power, reward power or expert power for leading. These other sources are not stable and often short lived.
Therefore, every manager has to become a leader. It is important to develop your leadership skills and understand what it takes to be a good leader.

Management Versus Leadership
ed tarus, Student (MBA), Kenya, Member
@Stan Heard : I agree that we should reunite leadership and management. Going by the healthy discussions from this forum, it is clear that leadership skills are crucial for successful (higher) management.
I suppose that firms should look at leadership skills in their managers and where there is a deficit, enhance these skills through capacity building for example in the form of training, coaching or mentoring.

Differences Between a Leader, Manager, and Boss
Emmanuel Reyme, Director, United States, Member
@Erdohegyi Gabor : I really appreciate your insight to the issue.
Discussing leadership and management, let's take away the notion of bosses, which appear pejorative. Anytime the term boss is used, it seems to be an oppressor, a commander, or a dictator. In an institution where leadership and good management practices stand and lay, there is no boss.
It is quite common in the workplace that every employee in the leadership chain of command calls him/herself a boss of the ones he/she has to supervise. This is a misstep... So let's skip the term 'bosses' from our management dictionary. It's not in the one of 12manage actually :-)

POEM and MAST Belong Together
Juan Perez Eras, Accountant, Mexico, Member
@Aditya Sud: I don't find any difference between management and leadership. For POEM you need to apply MAST. Sometimes we re-invent and redefine simple things. POEM and MAST are complementary values that a person needs to obtain organization's goals.

Management and Leadership
Robert Sowell, Consultant, United States, Member
Great variety. I enjoy the diverse perspectives. My favorite definition of a leader is "someone with followers".
When we move away from titles, formal positions, and look at functions, what people are doing, we recognize what has been said: leadership and management are both essential to getting things done when two or more people are involved in the doing.
Most of us get things done in a particular/specific context, set of circumstances. And we are not aware of why we are failing to transfer our leadership and/or management capacities to other contexts. My experience is that far fewer of us are leaders or managers in the sense that we can apply the various skills in many settings. This discussion helps to identify some of what needs to be transferred from one setting to another.
I am convinced that, in order to sustain long-term change, leaders must manage themselves well, and productive managers must be certain of their own self-leadership. In addition to Bennis, I recommend you look at Posner and Kouzes.

Listening is a Key Skill for both Managers and Leaders
kowe joseph olushola, United Kingdom, Member
Managers should among other things encourage listening skills as a culture in the organizations. Leaders must be very good and active listeners, not only paying attention to critique, but also paying attention to comprehend messages the individuals in the organization are trying to pass across.
In so doing, leaders will save valuable time and at the same time they can channel this energy to productivity rather than to argue.
Listening leaders will always attract information that will benefit the organization both in the short and long term.

Management versus Leadership seen from the Follower
Gordon Ullyett, Project Manager, New Zealand, Premium Member
@Aditya Sud and @Ulrich Schweiker : Yes, and seen from the side of the follower / employee: you follow a manager because you have to; you follow a leader because you want to.

Can Leaders become Managers?
Leodegardo M. Pruna, Professor, Philippines, Member
@Priya Rathore: a leader may have a hard time becoming a manager. One thing that a leader possesses is initiative and risk taking which a manager need not have because a manager works under some rules/policies which have to be complied with.

Reasons for Leaders to Emerge
Mohamed Mahgoub, Consultant, United Arab Emirates, Member
@Editor : Thank you for the prompt. I completely agree with your notion of "circumstances" as an additional reason for leaders to emerge:
- Some people become leaders for their personality traits (trait leadership).
- Others may emerge at times of crisis or important events that make them rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in what has always been an ordinary person.
- Others may choose to become leaders in certain situations and do their best to learn and manifest leadership skills (process leadership).
Another category- in my opinion- are those who are "placed" in a leadership role by others who have observed them display knowledge, wisdom, courage and foresight; in addition to being honorable and trusted. The others look up at them and show a willingness to follow them.
Respected leaders gain followers by what they are (beliefs, commitment, character), what they know (about the job, task.

What I Think is Leadership
TAPIWA JUMOH, Student (University), Zimbabwe, Member
I feel leadership as an art that fosters and stimulates the desire in some non-followers to redress and alter their attention and followership towards that main actor (in this case the custodian of the precious gift of leading), the leader source of inspiration, the glimmer of sereness of both the mind and deeds, the frame of poise and attraction which draws every weakling to believe in theirself.
You can see the perception of traits (social course of life taken, values, ethics and the i-self) here, of course with the aid of intelligence (education) and learnedness (wisdom)
Therefore leadership is what arises out of the above. Winning the hearts of the group. Dragging the tail smoothly across rough cliffs and to success, to revered praise and admiration, selflessness, innovativeness, fearlessness. Those are the things that to me make leadership.

Leaders Lead and Managers Merely Manage
Satya Nistala, India, Member
- Leaders are born. Leader walks the talk. Leader knows and provides guidance. The freewill is respected. The follower is free to follow or not to follow. Leader has the followers interest at heart. Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader. Leaders are innovative and normally come from future times. Leaders are independent and need no grooming.
- Managers are given a set of resources and an objective to complete. They manage by using the power vested in them. Their team is typically afraid of the consequences of disobedience. There is a process and a path which is time tested. For example a waterfall model. Managers are used and act as buffers to the top management. They are dependent and need grooming and guidance.

Management and Leadership
Emmanuel Duru, Analyst, Nigeria, Member
Leadership is implementation of an inherent vision. It precedes management; which is a process of getting it done right, with the application of ancillary six m's (money, machines, materials, methods, market and men).
To differentiate the tin-line between these two strong words that rule the world is to redefine our immediate fast changing environment vis a vis the dynamics in today's life-businesses and governance, which has defied various propounded theories relative to them, thus re-writing existing management and leadership history as a result of advancement in technology, and way of doing things.

Leadership & Management
Aspinall
I have researched extensively on theories and definitions of leadership and in truth found the following to be the summary of all:
- Leadership is the ability to inspire confidence that in turn promotes belief and a willingness to commit to an act of anothers design.
Whereas,
- Management is the ability to identify a requirement and allocate a variety of resources (optimised or otherwise) to meet that requirement.
Hence a leader directs intent while a manager actions accordingly. Confidence, belief and available resources will play a significant role in the resulting quality of effect.
Leadership and management can not act in isolation, one cannot survive without the other. What is always measurable in the unit of loyalty is the quality of each :).

Leadership and Management
Juan Perez Eras, Accountant, Mexico, Member
@Aspinall: I completely agree:
- a manager needs leadership to make people contribute to organization's goals.
- a leader cannot get results without following certain management principles (such a leader would be similar to a sniper shooting without a target).

What Leaders Do: They Lead and Learn
ed tarus, Student (MBA), Kenya, Member
Going by the words of Jack Welch in his book 'Winning', leaders take risks and learn by setting examples. Leaders will not only encourage experimenting and risk taking without following this with action. And when followers (employees) try and fail, leaders encourage them instead of shouting on them.
Leaders also learn. Just that you are the boss, does not mean you are the source of all knowledge. Leaders learn from the team and in most cases, you lead people who are smarter than you.

Balancing Management and Leadership Skills
Mona Al-Abbas, HR Consultant, Bahrain, Member
Individuals in managerial positions need both management skills and leadership skills. Those skills may differ in context and direction but both are important. Managers need to use both in order to succeed in their job.
Nevertheless, managers need to be skillful enough to know when to use which skill; when to be a manager and when to be a leader according to situational requirements. Practicing any of those two skills with the wrong degree will hinder job progress in the right direction.
Managers should balance management with leadership skills and know how much of those skills they need to deliver to their subordinates in order to reach the goals and objectives.
In addition, the degree of leadership and management needed differs according to the position in the organizational hierarchy and indeed the situation.

Good Leaders and Bad Leaders
Daniel Mitchell
@Mona Al-Abbas: I agree with you, and I think that some of what Henry Mintzberg says about leadership (it is a critical management capability, but one amongst several critical capabilities) fits with what you're saying.
Honestly though, I think many of the most successful leaders I've read about, worked with, and worked for, were good leaders because they saw good leadership as a worthy practice in and of itself.
Bad leaders often put on their leader hats only when they think that doing so will help them achieve their short-term ambitions.
A lot of graduate business and leader development programs feed this phenomenon by linking good leadership with contingent rewards.

Balancing Management & Leadership
Mohamed Mahgoub, Consultant, United Arab Emirates, Member
Managers do need leadership in specific situations. Leaders, on the other hand, access their positions by demonstrating specific managerial skills, in addition to leadership traits.
However, the example that you provided for "planning" as a leadership attribute may be questionable. Planning is an operational issue, and thus lies more with managers. The leadership role would be to provide guidelines and scope, and maybe standard procedures for managers to follow. Thanks for the good points.

Leadership and Management: is There Difference?
Adam mohammed Baba, Director, Ghana, Member
Herman (2000) states that "people follow managers because they were supposed to, but they follow leaders because they wanted to" (page 74).
In my view this statement sets the stage for the distinction between the two. Though most management theorists argue that the two are different concepts, there are others who think they have similarities and for that matter they complement each other.
But the basic difference may be that leaders have the ability to create an emotional bond with followers by inspiring trust and sharing the same values with them. This is common in the trade unions. Management on the other hand is exercised within a formal and structured organization, where control is emphasized.
Managers may adopt leadership strategies and behaviors, but in doing so they must be sincere in their vision and must ensure that their vision meets the values and aspirations of their followers.
Bennis (1989) drew 12 distinctions and agrees that managers rely on control but leaders inspire trust.

Favoring Psychological Systems Dynamics
Ulrich Schweiker, Director, Germany, Member
@Adam Mohammed Baba: leaders and followers obviously have something in common: they move towards the same goals or into the same direction. Whether this is because leaders trigger something in the followers, or because followers respond to something the leaders give... we don't really know.
It seems as if leaders are appealing to an emotional field of the followers... thus being enabled to create common new fields...

Management and Leadership
Adam mohammed Baba, Director, Ghana, Member
@Ulrich Schweiker : it may seem that cleaver leaders "exploit" emotions of their followers. But what is wrong about that, if it is for the common good of both the leader and the followers. After all good leaders use followers to achieve organizational goals.

The Leader - the Follower
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Adam Mohammed Baba: Good leaders 'follow' followers to achieve goals!

Management and Leadership / the Leader the Follower
Adam Mohammed Baba, Director, Ghana, Member
@Arif ur Rehman : I think we are saying the same thing in different ways. Followers are very important in every organizational setting because they can be described as "king makers". Leaders, whether formal or informal, would not be able to achieve their goals without the active involvement of followers. There would be no leader if there is no follower. This is the more reason why Mullins (2006) cautioned leaders to pay adequate attention to followers, because of their ability to make or break leaders.

The Leader as a Follower
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Adam Mohammed Baba: Entirely true. A leader, worth his salt - both instinctively and professionally - recognizes the 'king makers' and through empowerment, coaching and his charisma 'impels' his followers contribute actively to company goals.

Leadership or Management the Two Have a Concordial Agreement
TAPIWA JUMOH, Student (University), Zimbabwe, Member
The two acts are inseperable or indespensible with each other. You can't be a good leader if you can't manage your influence over others with quality. What is management? What do we mean? In short to manage is to achieve set goals efficiently and effectively without prejudicing the expected economic value of the project or business.
Instilling confidence in the doers and achieving the results with you as a team is the ingredient of leadership found within managers.
There isn't much deviance between the two deeds, because all are occupied with Fayol's management roles of planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controling.
People follow managers because the manager is magnetic and enterpreneurial. Employees may resent a rigid, autocratic manager. I therefore think the only difference between managers and leaders is in the way HOW ONE MOTIVATES his span of control and leads it and the type of the economic value we hope for, the skill to appreciate all contributions no matter how small leverages leaders over management, but both want to achieve the same.

Leadership versus Management according to Covey
Mohamad Nasir Mahmood, Director, Malaysia, Member
Stephen R. Covey had succinctly summarized, as follows: "management is the efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. In short, management is the method and the discipline, meanwhile leadership is the measure and the prioritization. Leadership without the management skill is futile; and management without leadership skill is incomplete".

Management versus Leadership
Adam Mohammed Baba, Director, Ghana, Member
Differences between managers and leaders
Most management scholars have alluded to the fact that managers and leaders require different skills and competences in performing their duties, though the difference might be small.
- Zaleznik (1977) sees leaders as visionaries, concerned about substance, he views managers as planners who are concerned about processes.
- Bennis (1989) draws 12 distinctions which indicate among others that managers administer while leaders innovate. Managers focus on systems but leaders focus on people. Managers accept status quo while leaders challenge it.
Conclusion: managers use official powers within a formal set up to direct, supervise and manage resources. Leaders set vision, influence followers, inspire them to accomplish their values and aspirations.
Commonalities between managers and leaders
The above notwithstanding, both leaders and managers direct how to accomplish visions of their organizations, they use communication to induce responses, they reward achievements and motivate staff and followers.

Re: Leadership and Management
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Ahmed N. Qeshta: sorry, but to say that a manager cannot be a leader is simply not true. It is not necessary for a manager to be a leader, they simply have to implement decisions made by a leader, but, if they are a leader, their job is easier to do and the result is most likely to be superior to a non-leading manager.

The Leader <> Manager Balance
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Andrew Blaine : When the boundaries beyond the horizon are brought into the range of the ‘doables’ and the doables are undertaken with commitment transforming them into ‘dones’, wherein motivation is visible everywhere, then we are talking of leaders.

Leading versus Driving
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: the process considered here can equally be achieved by driving workers as by leading them - the difference lies in the morale of said workers. I am referring to the doables and dones.

At the Helm - Through Motivation
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Andrew Blaine : A slave is compelled, an associate is motivated – and therein lies the charisma of leadership. And when a result comes through motivation, the magic for success is then at the helm – even in a stormy sea!

Leadership and Management
Karel V , CEO, South Africa, Member
A leadership is the person's ability to envision and think strategically in motivating his/her followers into implementing strategies for a good change in an organization. And management is the implementation of new strategies through people/employees and focusing on the functional level of the organization.

Manage versus Lead
Elijah Peters, Manager, United States, Member
I think the very terms imply the diffence:
- When you're asked to MANAGE a process, team, etc., one tends to believe that it is a hands on, make sure everything is going well until the job is done, with no inference of a shared vision.
- When you're asked to LEAD, the implication is that there is a goal and your job is to make sure all involved understand the goal, believe in that goal and will do what is required to get there.

The Role of Managers is more Stable than the Role of Leaders
Priya Rathore, HR Consultant, India, Member
@Elijah Peters : Well said... But the most important task and characteristic of the leader is not just about sharing the vision. It is about making the people believe in your vision as though it is their own. There needs to be a charisma in a leader.
Still, a manager's role is required though it can never be equated to that of the leader. There is more stability in the manager's function since a manager is process centric.
As the leader is more strategizing, he needs to keep looking for newer ventures. So, he may not do the same job. And if he does, he may want to do it in a different way.
Therefore, the role of a manager is more stable than the role of a leader as he is capable to carry out the same task in the same way without a change if not required.

Motivation as a Driving Force
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: I agree with your commentary that a slave is driven while an associate is motivated.
The nature of motivation needs attention... What about the associate motivated by fear, either externally applied or internally generated, are they motivated or driven?

Motivation versus Fear
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Andrew Blaine: Motivation is the inner urge – that intrinsically emerges from an ethical, committed and rewarding environment generated by the leader – that embellishes one to excel and outperform oneself. Performance based on FEAR – Forget Everything And Run – can never, repeat never, bring about a fundamental change or lead towards sustaining a strategic goal.

Fear and Motivation
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: Hi Arif, at the risk of labouring a point, I feel it would be pertinent to point out that fear of failure often leads to motivation to succeed just as fear of drowning often leads to pointless swimming for survival.
Fear is so much part of everyday life that, to ignore it, or its effect on people, or to attribute only negative connotations to the emotion seems shortsighted.
I feel that not every emotion comes from a positive base, and am certain that self-preservation is, more than commonly, based on fear. Terror is another story, when one "forgets everything and runs"!

How Does Management and Leadership Differentiate
Vipul Nahar, India, Member
SOP for both management and leadership might differentiate on various points but for a moment, if we look at the commonality between their SOP, primarily we will find that both have a goal to achieve, none can stand alone and get the things done.
So when both have so much in common where they do differentiate?
They differentiate in the extent to which a particular skill is used in their respective profession . For example a manager also has to have motivational skills, people skills and desired flexibility in order to accomplish respective goals or objectives, but as a manager's scope is not beyond company / departmental level, all mentioned skills are practiced for shorter span, for a short objective and upon a small sized team.
So it's just a matter of the degree to which all required skills are practiced by both the parties. The rest remains the same in the case of both management and leadership.
And yes, as is the case with leaders, an effective manager is also a blend of both talent and situation-based practices learned throughout life.

Management and Leadership
Leodegardo M. Pruna, Professor, Philippines, Member
Management is transactional while Leadership is transformational. Management deals with less communication, Leadership with more meaningful communication.

What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership and Which is the Most Important
Andrew Parker, Director, Australia, Member
In answer to your question, put simply you need to ask a different question. Your question should be, What is the most important element of Management?
Leadership is one of the four key functions of Management alongside with Planning, Organising, and Controlling. See also the POSDCORB Model that distinguishes 7 functions of management of which leadership (Directing) is also one.
So in my view, the answer is there is no difference, Leadership is part of Management, not an element that is different from it.
As it is an element of the concept of Management, it follows that Leadership is an equally important element as Planning, Organising and Controlling.

Difference Between Management and Leadership
Nico Schuster, Manager, Germany, Member
Quite some time ago I gave a presentation on the topic "Management V. Leadership" during my Master's studies - it provides some examples and definitions for both terms. You will find the ppt here: Slideshare

Leading & Managing
Gregory Johnson, Coach, United States, Premium Member
Leadership of ANY type requires a cadre of Management applications. This debate has been long standing and I don't see Leadership without some high degree of management. However, I can easily see managing without being branded as a Leader.
So: Leadership requires Management, but being a manager does not sanction one as a Leader.

Leading and Managing
Ray Chatwin, Lecturer, United Kingdom, Member
I suggest that management can be thought of as the 'hard' aspects such as organising, scheduling, setting targets, monitoring them, whilst leadership can be seen as the 'soft' aspects of influencing and motivating people. Whilst management increasingly relies on data analytics ('hard'), leadership can also be seen as a cult which has risen to prominence because of fears in the US dating from the 1970s that the US has fallen behind, hence the need for people with 'vision' and 'charisma' to come forward and lead us to a glorious future. See Zaleznick on this change (HBR) and also Salaman who uses this term, 'leadership cult'. In the UK public sector, I suggest leadership means leading on the implementation of government policy regardless of what professional opinion might be.

Leader and Manager are Twins
Anthony Tsui, Professor, China, Premium Member
In my view, leadership is about setting a standard (direction) while management is about keeping the standard for an agreeable period.

Leadership vs Management
Reid, CEO, United Kingdom, Premium Member
The key difference between the two is to 'show' rather than 'tell' your direct reports what to do to improve the business. We've very recently written a blog on it. It applies to retail, but the mid-section explores the show/tell dynamic well, which might help you.