A couple comments that were submitted to one of my earlier articles, “Valuable Outcomes From Bad Managers?,” caused me to consider the role of manager versus the role of a leader and whether the two are really one and the same, but viewed from different perspectives. This has been the topic of discussion for many blog articles, but it seems worthy of at least one more.
Point – Counterpoint
Ken Zuhr wrote in his comment, “I would observe that leadership and management are often confused as the same thing. They are not. Leadership reflects an ability to inspire. It builds aspirations, and convinces teams to attempt the seemingly impossible. It is vision and optimism communicated. It provides a dream. Management is focused on the measurable. Costs, benefits, and schedules provide the goals/objectives and vocabulary. It provides a plan.”
Bob Neuwoehner suggested in his comment that describing leadership and management separately created a false dichotomy between leadership and management. Bob further suggested that “another way to think about it would be to differentiate between ‘strategic leadership’ and ‘operational leadership.’ The former having to do with developing a compelling vision and guiding values; the latter dealing with all the issues required for implementation.”
The World We Live In
There are many leaders in the world who are not managers supported by positional power, and yet, their influence is significant, i.e. ministers, celebrities, and sports figures. Though some of these may also be managers, their leadership influence extends to a much broader domain than their management authority. As such, there are leaders who are not managers. Are there managers who are not leaders? Ken Zuhr indicated that there are staff positions where leadership is not as critical as their specific knowledge and skills, HR and finance were two organizational areas cited by Ken as examples.
Indeed there are situations wherein management titles are assigned because they allow certain authorities without affecting policy changes, i.e. contracts manager, or project manager. These positions often do not have direct reports and thus do not have responsibilities of leadership. In these situations, the specific job knowledge and/or credentials are more important than leadership traits. Might the contributions of these managers be more valuable if they also had the leadership skills to contribute to the stewardship of the organization?
It is the rare individual who has the ability to span the leadership spectrum from operational to strategic and have all the knowledge and skills to perform the measurable aspects of the job. Most people in management positions are good at some things and not so good at others, just like everyone else.
As executives, we are often lulled into believing that managers who are meeting the measurable outcomes are doing a good job. Unfortunately, leadership traits are not easily measured directly. Rather they are evidenced through other indicators, i.e. organizational morale, turnover, performance and disciplinary issues, etc. It is also unfortunate that many of these other indicators can also have other causes making it difficult at times to identify leadership weaknesses.
Leadership Requires Investment
As executives, we have the responsibility to ensure that all managers on our teams appreciate the value that we place on leadership in addition to the more traditional measures of the job. We need to implement performance measures that will reveal leadership weaknesses and institute leadership development programs to overcome them.
Can managers be good leaders? Of course, but only if they are given and take the opportunity and the time to develop their leadership skills. Developing those skills requires desire, focus, and an environment that is supportive of the process.
Are managers and leaders two sides of the same coin? Sometimes.
My sincere thanks to Ken Zuhr and Bob Neuwoehner for their comments and continued support.
I would be interested in knowing what you think. Please submit your thoughts, comments and examples of real life managers and leaders.
I am pleased that my article resonated with you, though I fully appreciate that it did not resonate positively. I hope you can appreciate that I meant no offense to any manager who has leadership abilities and responsibilities in addition to their management knowledge and skills. I think it is interesting that there are many differing views.
Hi all.
As a former middle manager (of 25+ years), I hear the disparity between ‘management and ‘leadership’ and how it applies in the real world.
Leaders are typically seen as organizational figures who take the organization forward into the future (a typical definition is around the vision they have). A manager is there to deliver these tactically at the sharp end.
I think this is too simplistic. A good manager is able to incorporate some ‘leadership’ skills into their day job.
True, they will not have the big visionary requirements in a corporate, strategic sense – they simply will not be able to influence at that level. But who is to say that they can’t show leadership in their role.
For example with a ‘vision’ of what their part of the business will look like. With an appreciation of a strategic plan therefore to deliver it.
Since I stopped being a manager, I recognize the local value of leadership in the more traditionally defined sense and appreciate now that managers will be much better at their role if they are able, within reason, to add in elements of leadership that will add value – especially with an eye on clearly defining (with their team where possible), ‘what good looks like’. Where they take the time to consider it as distinct from the now and the trials and tribulations that they might encounter each day.
Moving from crisis management to succession planning – as an example – is still leadership and vision. With these in place, they are seen as real leaders by their people in the micro-environment of the business circumstances they inhabit.
Excellent insights obviously born of experience. Thank you for sharing. Please come back soon, Martin. I appreciate your added value.
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This discussion on leader vs manager puzzles me. I appreciate the difference between inspiring people to follow a leader in a vision and the need to be effective and efficient. Yes – from this angle I agree with the article. Where I am puzzled is the implication that a person is either one or the other. One of the things I am taking away from Covey is the desire to lead on my future and to manage my goals. Would that not make me a leader and a manager in one body acting at different moments?
How would we need to redefine the principle of a leader when we move away from hierarchy towards empowerment of individuals? Does this trend amplify the need for a leader?
In Europe it seems there is lack of true (political) leaders. On the other hand that may be the result of modern civilization in which everyone is expected to lead in some shape or form. I am puzzled…
Hi Ferdinand,
Thank you for your comment. I can certainly appreciate the confusion. I think that is why so many people write about this topic. Mark Miracle may have given us the means to gain more understanding. Management is the embodiment of skills associated with a management job whereas leadership encompasses a host of traits that allow others to want to follow, be associated with, and led by that person. The article appropriately points out that there can be leaders who do not have the authoritative powers of a management role. There are also management roles that were created for specific purposes that may not require strong leadership traits. If, however, the management role is one with supervisory responsibilities, then to be successful that person must also have strong leadership traits.
From a semantic point of view, one can separate the two as Ken Zuhr did in his comment of the first blog post. But for most applications, if you are a manager you must also be a good leader or you will fail as a manager. Both management skills and leadership traits must coincide within the same person to achieve the success to which we aspire.
My article was written solely from the perspective of business management and leadership. Political leadership is something I do not feel qualified to comment on, especially, the political leadership of other countries. Thank you again. I appreciate your stopping by.
RT @KetelboeterPR: RT @leadership1: "Leaders & Managers – Two Sides of The Same Coin?"- http://is.gd/aZ416 #management #leadership
Great topic for discussion. I think previous posters all make valid points. I look at leadership as a trait and management as a skill, in and of themselves unrelated, leadership inherent, management learned. However, to truly be considered successful as either a leader or a manager one should possess both the trait and the skill in fair amounts. So, to spin the analogy a little bit: If the coin represents a “good” leader/manager both sides need to be in evidence. Also to Gordon’s comment, both the trait and the skill require “honing” in the pursuit of perfection.
Mark, thank you for your insightful commentary. I agree, that to be successful in a business situation, both the traits of leadership and the skills of management must be in evidence. Thanks for stopping by.
It is my belief that Management is something taught to and learned by individuals. Leadership is a more intuitive skill in individuals. That’s not to say that there aren’t “natural” managers out there, but I would surmise that there are many more “natural” leaders than managers. This coin only becomes 2-sided (a singe entity that both leads and manages well) with a great deal of effort on the indiviual’s part to be such a person. It is certainly a tough but not insurmountable row to hoe. I do think that there are plenty more leaders known to us (hopefully because they are good at leadership) than managers, because managers don’t seem to get the accolades for their skill set like leaders do. In fact, one might say a great leader probably has many managers working with him to insure his place as a leader through their management. Does that make the Leader a good manager, or a person who knows how to manage what allows him to lead? The upshot of all of this? “Sometimes” as Gordon says (but not often), an individual is 2-sided, but mostly this is not the case. They are more like separate entities in the long run. Just my humble opinion.
Thank you for your thoughtful response, Erin. Your observation of leaders versus managers with respect to what is intuitive versus what is learned is consistent with my own. Both, however, are skill sets that require honing to perfect.
@Erin: I wonder if leadership can’t be taught like management can. Perhaps charisma is the thing that can’t be taught. Though charisma has both positive and negative aspects, it seems we ascribe good leadership qualities to those that have charisma in spades. Other leadership practices like communicating a vision, recognizing people for a job well done, and advocating on behalf of those that follow you can probably be taught just like management skills, wouldn’t you think? And I have attempted to give glamor to at least one manager in a post to my blog here: http://leadernation.com/blog/entry/on_feeding_souls_and_soldiers/
@Gordon: Thanks for the post. I really appreciate the “sometimes” thought. Considering a person’s role and that person’s skill set seems like a useful place to start when thinking of developing leadership and/or management skills.
Joaquin, thank you for your comments. I believe that in addition to leadership traits, of which charisma is one, there are indeed leadership skills which can be learned and therefore taught. Indeed, there are many courses that focus on leadership skills. I am, however, convinced that there are personality types that are better suited for success in leadership. Lacking the native traits would make it very difficult for someone to shine as a leader regardless of the training.
I appreciate your commentary and I hope you will be a regular reader.
Hi, Gordon,
Thanks for the reply and for the welcome. I will certainly make my way back here frequently. I am curious, which personality types do you think make for better leaders? Is there a particular framework you are thinking about (e.g., MBTI) or are you saying that certain people just seem more naturally cut out for the job (given their life experience)? I would love to hear more.
Thanks!
Joaquin