Leaders focus on people, managers focus on things. Leaders create a
vision, managers execute a plan. Leaders look into the future, managers
focus on the present. Leaders empower, managers control. Leaders develop
change, managers manage change. Leaders use influence, managers use
authority. The previous are commercial comparisons that are widespread
in human resource courses and materials, and the result of these
comparisons are Leaders are angels, we should take them as an example,
and managers are devils, we should avoid them.
In my opinion,
leaders and managers are not in contradiction; they complement each
other. Leadership has various styles and hats, such as autocratic
(leader takes all the decisions), democratic (decision-making is shared
with team members), transformational (inspiring employees to produce
change in the organization), Laissez-faire (hands-off style),
transactional (punishment and incentives are used to motivate
employees), servant (puts the needs of the employees first; strongly
recommended in project management institute; PMI), charismatic (leader
use communication skills, persuasiveness, and charm), interactional
(combination of transactional, transformational, and charismatic),
visionary (leader has a clear vision for the future), and bureaucratic
(rule-based style).
Effective leaders can wear all the previous
hats and adopt all of these styles according to situation, team, and
organizational goals and culture. Also, there are somehow common traits
with managers as commercial courses stated. I believe that, beyond
classifications, loose organizations may need autocratic and
bureaucratic style to enhance the essence of processes and procedures in
work (managers role in commercial courses). However, mature
organizations need a sense of motivation and prioritizing people to make
a significant impact and differences (leaders role in commercial
courses).
Thus, Leaders and managers are not opposites and they
are not two types, they are fall under an academic concept called
"Managerial Leadership," that depend on both direction and coordination.
Actually, every manager should develop leadership skills, and every
leader have to be a manager, using the best approach depends technically
on the situation.
Article by Amr H. Abayazeed - May 03, 2024.
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