How leadership and management are different?

Is there a difference between leadership and management? If so, how are they different? If not, how are they the same? Is this difference important or is the drawing of such lines just a waste of everyone’s time? Do you have more leaders or more managers in your workplace? Why do you think this is so?

Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy (2006: 10) stated: “We think of leadership and management as closely related but distinguishable functions.” Leadership and Management are different subjects yet interchangeable; leaders do not need managerial skills because they can hire people for management; however, managers require leadership skills to unify their teams to sustain or increase productivity and efficiency at work.

“Being an expert on leadership research is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for being a good leader. Some managers may be effective leaders without ever having taken a course or training program in leadership, and some scholars in the field of leadership may be relatively poor leaders.”(Hughes & Ginnett & Curphy, 2006: 8) There are differences between leadership and management but drawing them is such a waste of time because I believe that leadership is a quality or characteristic however management is a position. Leadership is a broad subject and every one of us faces leadership challenges in our everyday life, most of our duties and events require leadership qualities, and almost every position we fulfill requires some leadership qualities. A management position is no different, it requires leadership skills as well. For example, Martin Luther King was an activist who possessed great leadership qualities and Peter Jackson is a director with great leadership skills. Consequently, the word “leader” is a descriptive quality to indicate leadership but not a position.

Several definitions had been proposed to “correctly” state the meaning of leadership. However, leadership is an intangible and broad concept which makes it impossible to agree on one statement to define it. Actually, it is natural to have various definitions for leadership in which several can be simultaneously “correct” depending on the event or situation; the relationship between leadership and its definitions is one too many. Different tasks require different leadership skills. And a good leader in a certain field is not necessarily a good leader in another field.

Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy (2006: 10) stated that “Leadership is a social influence process shared among all members of a group.” I would like to emphasize that leadership is not only a social influence process but also a psychological influence process; both elements are required to develop effective persuasiveness skills which is the main element in leadership.

“Managers’ goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at diffusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all sides while ensuring that an organization’s day-to-day business gets done.” (Abraham, 1998: 61) In my current workplace there are multiple managers and no sign of a leadership atmosphere which in my opinion limits the opportunity and speed for expanding the business. Managers are more focused on short-term goals, they don’t encourage creativity, and don’t show signs to inspire subordinates. However, “Leaders adopt personal, active attitudes towards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy.”(Abraham, 1998: 61) Successful managers require leadership skills to “control’ the workplace; the relationships, the working environment, within any workplace is often intense, consequently chaotic. Accordingly, managers need leadership to be efficient. So leadership skills should be a part of managerial skills especially when it comes to senior managers or managers of larger groups. In other words, managers need to lead not only manage.

Reference:

Abraham Zaleznik (1998) Harvard Business Review on Leadership. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School.

Hughes R., Ginnett R., Curphy G. (2006) Leadership: enhancing the lessons of experience, 5th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

James M. Kouzes (2003) Business Leadership: A Jossey-Bass Reader.

Morgan W. McCall, Jr. and Michael M. Lombardo (1982) Using Simulation for Leadership and Management Research: Through the Looking Glass. Management Science, Vol. 28, №5, pp. 533–549 [Online]. Available from:?https://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/stable/2631323?&Search=yes&term=leadership&term=management&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dleadership%2Band%2Bmanagement%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=6&ttl=77706&returnArticleService=showArticle?(Accessed 09 February 2009)