Bridge to the Future Blog
The Difference Between Leadership and Management
07/11/11
Many theories believe that there is a difference between leadership and management – there is! Within this blog, I will highlight these differences but to be a truly great manager or leader you need to be able to adopt skills of both. The focus is for you to highlight whether you feel you are more of a leader or manager.
There are a number of differences between the behaviours of managers and leaders, illustrated in the table below.
| Managers will… | Leaders will… |
|---|---|
| Administrate | Innovate |
| Maintain | Develop |
| Accept reality | Investigate it |
| Focus on systems and/or structures | Focus on people |
| Rely on their control | Inspire trust in people |
| Hold short range views | Have a longer range perspective |
| Ask ‘how’ and ‘when’ | Ask ‘what’ and ‘why’ |
| Keep on eye on the bottom line | Keep an eye on the horizon |
| Imitate | Originate |
| Accept the status quo | Challenge it |
| Be a classic good solider | Be his/her own person |
A manager will keep things going well and aim to bring about, accomplish and have a charge of responsibility for to conduct whereas leadership is about influencing and guiding in a direction.
Is it possible to be both a great manager and leader? In my opinion, yes. For example; you have to accept reality as a manager but you should be able to first of all investigate the situation, showing leadership and management qualities. You should also be able to hold a short track view of things while being aware of the longer term perspective for the organisation.
It is evident that the leadership role appears more inspiring, but by learning to use both leadership and management qualities you will become a more balanced leader or manager which can only help you and your team(s) in order for them to ‘buy in’ to your company’s visions and goals.
Take this opportunity to look at the statements above and decide which traits are most relevant to you and think about if they are holding you, your team or your organisation back. If they are, what are you going to do to change?
Andrew Tinley BA Hons
Remote Learning Facilitator
Centre for Leadership and Management
