Analytical Essay on Who Am I: Management Versus Leadership

Who am I

Am I a leader or a manager? You might be surprised to hear that there is a difference. These roles are often thought to be interchangeable, but on the contrary, they are very different. Through out this paper we will be exploring the differences between the two roles and some of the overlapping and interchangeable aspects of both.

Management

If one we look at the definition of management one can see that it consists of having control a group or entities to accomplish a goal (Nayar, 2014). Managers are for the most part tied to an official position or title. Effective managers can help motivate people and to keep them motivated to do their best work. A manager should have the ability to hire and fire employees as well as discipline and monitor attendance. They are the ones who give overtime and vacations. They are the boss.

Leadership

In contrast, we can see that the definition of leadership can be explained as the art of motivating a group to act toward the same goal (Ward, 2020). Leaders can lead from anywhere. They have no position that they must be in to be an effective leader. They lead by example and by influence to move a team in a singular direction. “A leader can come from anywhere” (Bird, “Ratatouille: (ra-ta-tuj)”). The lowest person on the totem pole could end up being the most effective leader of the group.

Contrast

Through out this next section we will be bouncing back and forth between the two different roles showing the overall contrast between the two and how they ultimately affect the overall picture. Starting with manager one can see that they have more of a control mindset. They tend to focus on the administration of processes and structure and resources of the organization. They are very much into maintaining the status quo, so maintenance is a key part of what they do. And they are very number, and task focused. So overall managers are working on the day to day task and making sure that everything gets done in an orderly fashion. Manager tend to think very logical on how things need to happen. They also tend to shy away from conflict. Manager like to seek credit for themselves and avoid taking risks.

Leaders, however, are a little bit different. Leaders have a more persuasive approach to communication rather than controlling. Leaders are focused on taking the organization from here to there. That’s a name of a video series by Bill Hybels, a great leadership author. He talks about going from A to B. A leader is different from anybody else because they want to take people from here to there (Hybels, 2016). In its basic form, that’s one of the main ways he sees leadership. Leaders also are known for taking risks. Instead of maintaining the status quo and keeping things steady, they are trying to stretch the organization past what it’s currently doing and that involves taking risks. Leaders are also much more people focus and relationship focus. They do more mentoring or coaching more teaching.

One of the key differences here is the two things are completely intertwined. If you notice on the leadership side of the equation, persuasive communication, taking us from here to there, which a lot about casting a vision and getting people excited about the future, as well as people focused approach, those three out of the lists are all communication centric. You must have great, sophisticated communication skills to do those leadership functions well. Not so much with this idea of taking risks. I think that has a little bit more to do with the person’s disposition and wanting to take risks and wanting to push the envelope a little bit. Now managers, on the other side of the coin, certainly have a lot of important communication functions. As I said earlier, though, both sides of the coin are important. You must be a good manager as well as a leader nowadays. Especially if you’re in any kind of small business or team setting, you’re going to do a little bit of both. One of the things people do, however, is–as budget allows and as the organization grows–they will hire people in the area where they are not as strong. Many well-known visionary-type leaders, for example, will hire good task-oriented managers to balance out that team. “There’s no such thing as a hundred percent manager and a hundred percent leader. Because we all have to do a little bit of the other” (Lyon,2017).

References

1. Hybels, B. (2016). Leading from here to there. Retrieved January 25, 2020, from https://youtu.be/Jbba8DJO7MA
2. Lyon, A. (2017). Case studies in courageous organizational communication: research and practice for healthy workplaces. New York: Peter Lang.
3. Nayar, V. (2014, August 7). Three Differences Between Managers and Leaders. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/08/tests-of-a-leadership-transition
4. Walt Disney studios home entertainment. (2013). Ratatouille: (ra-ta-tuj).
5. Ward, S. (2020, January 3). What Is Leadership? And Can You Learn to Be a Good Leader? Retrieved January 27, 2020, from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/leadership-definition-2948275