Tweak Your Biz » Management » Leadership Vs Management – Is there a difference?

Leadership Vs Management – Is there a difference?

by Kelvin Gillen on November 9th, 2009
9 Comments



I suppose the first thing to do in talking leadership is to try understand what is meant by the term leadership and I’m also interested to understand if it is the same as management, as we frequently see these terms used interchangeably.

John Kotter has a simple but memorable definition – management is about managing complexity and leadership is about managing change.

Kotter would seem to definitely imply a difference between the two, viewing each as a distinctive function in its own right but highly complementary.  He theorises that as organisations grew and became increasingly complex during the middle of the twentieth century there was a demand for the practices and process of strong management, similarly as the rate of change (globalisation and competitiveness) accelerated toward the end of the century there was increased demand for leadership to cope with this change.

Abraham Zaleznik in his HBR Classic article, Managers & Leaders – Are They Different? again suggests that managers and leaders are two very different types of people.  Zaleznik talks about leaders adopting very personal active attitudes towards their goals, being tolerant of chaos and therefore able to avoid premature closure on important issues.  Managers’ goals on the other hand often arise more out of necessity rather than desire, causing them to seek order and control and to have almost a ‘compulsion’ to disposing of problems.  Zaleznik’s experience and insight lead him to conclude that it is often this instinct to impose order on potential chaos that leads to the most serious problems for organisations.

So are leaders and managers different? And if so, is there a need for companies to have both good managers and leaders in order to survive and succeed?

While the answers to the above questions would obviously seem to be yes and yes, it is a topic that I’d like to explore and understand a little more, for example; can managers evolve into leaders? How? And should they try?

Thoughts?



Category: Leadership

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The Author:

Senior Manager with Pinnacle Project Partners and over the last 15 years have worked as a Project / Programme Manager, primarily within the Financial Services Sector here in Ireland, but also with clients in the UK, Holland, the US and New Zealand. I have worked on a number of significant large scale projects – ranging from process improvement & automation initiatives, to more traditional solution design & implementation projects. PMP™ certified and holder of a MBA (First Class Honours) from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Looking for outlet to share idea's / thoughts - particularly in the leadership space – and continue learning!

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  • productful

    Kelvin,Good post, a very valid question to ask, and I am sure many a page has been written trying to convey people's thoughts on the subject, so I will add my bit here:Leadership – I view this as showing example to people who work for you or who follow your direction to reach those goals. The leader sees the future before others do, and hence makes decisions early to allow the events that may happen in the future not upset the strategic goal.Management – This is about taking the direction that is been worked towrards, and managing that process to reach the goals that are set. People can be good managers, but not necessarily good leaders, it takes a special type of person who has both qualities. Over my limited experience to date having worked in multinationals , there are many managers, but few become a leader, it is sometimes becomes evident from an early stage who are the managers and who are the leaders.Good debate to have, I am sure others will have some good points to make.Joe http://www.productful.com

  • elainerogers

    Kelvin, interesting post, and always an interesting comparison. Managers work within the business and leaders work on the business, they concentrate on the vision and long term goals, and keep the managers motivated :) I read a great story once about a bunch of managers hacking their way through the jungle with machetes, working up quite a sweat. They were too busy hacking away at the undergrowth, making little progress to notice one of their guys (or girls) climbing up a tree. They shouted up “Hey what are you doing up there, can't you see we are busy hacking away down here, come give us a hand.” The manager up the tree shouted back down and simply declared “Lads, we are in the wrong Jungle”I must find that story again – shows how one can stand out from the crowd and become a truly great leader. Thanks for sharing. Elaine

  • gregfry

    I quite like this quote. Let's throw it on to the bonfire of debate!“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”Stephen R. Covey

  • KelvinGillen

    Thanks Dermot – would ceratinly appreciate the Snowden & Boones piece, and while it's hard to argue with Drucker – I think he was was a big fan of disciplined, sound management and not today’s fashion for leadership – as one of his quotes makes clear:“The three greatest leaders of the 20th century were Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. If that’s leadership, I want no part of it.”

  • KelvinGillen

    Thanks Elaine – the story is actually a Covey analogy ( ties in with Greg's quote below ) from his famous book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.He describes the people cutting through the bush as 'problem solvers', they are clearing the way and then behind these people come the managers. The managers sharpen the machetes, write the policy and procedure manuals, hold muscle development programs, and set the schedules and compensation packages for the people with the machetes.According to Covey, the leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, “Wrong jungle!”Unfortunately the people on the ground will often reply, “Shut up! We’re making excellent progress!”

  • KelvinGillen

    A friend of mine came up with this analogy, which I thought was worth sharing: My view – Not every manager is a good leader (obviously). But, I dothink that every good leader needs to be able to manage. Otherwise,they get nowhere. A leader needs to be able to drive the car (manage)and navigate (lead) at the same time. It's the ability to do bothwithout ending up in the ditch that is the challenge.

  • elainerogers

    Or hire a great navigator to help you get there! My understanding of good leadership is YES they need to be great managers, as all managers don't necessarily become good Leaders. Leaders stand out from the crowd for various reasons, leadership (obviously) and being able to empower the right managers who will in turn empower their teams, who in turn will do a great job. We still need good managers, and in small business its always a challenge to be a great leader in your own company (hence the comment I made above about being able to work ON the business, and not get too bogged down IN the business).I think there may be a distinction here between small business owners and Irish SME's. Does it make a difference?Kelvin – thanks for clarifying the jungle story – I read the Covey book, and have read a different version of it somewhere else also.Elaine

  • iancleary

    A leader is someone who creates a future that wasn't going to exist (e.g.Gandhi).

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