Do you think there is a difference between leadership and management? There are differing opinions, though most experts can distinctly distinguish between the two.

The key characteristics associated with effective management and leadership behavior in the workplace necessitates the significance of both skill sets, though in varying degrees, for organizational excellence.

Difference between Leadership and Management

Some experts are of the opinion leadership and management as synonymous terms, using them interchangeably when discussing the subject. Others view these terms as dissimilar – almost as extreme opposites, with very little convergence. A third position is one that appears most practical to us – that while differences between leadership and management exist, perhaps sometimes the two can overlap and that we often need both to achieve excellence.

A well-known adage states that leadership is “doing the right thing,” while management is “doing things right”. This distinction denotes a workable start line for thoughtful consideration of the similarities and differences between effective management and leadership behavior.

Researches lead to its comparisons with wider applications in an organization. I list some of their findings below which outline the major attempts to describe the two phenomena in the simplest of terms:

• The Leader focuses on Alignment; the Manager on Organization.
• The Leader focuses on Vision/Direction; the Manager on Process Control.
• The Leader focuses on the Big Picture; the Manager on the Details
• The Leader has a Strategic focus; the Manager a Tactical one.
• The Leader has his/her eye on the Horizon; the Manager has an eye on the Bottom Line
• The Leader is all about Change; the Manager is all about Stability
• The Leader Challenges the Status Quo; the Manager accepts the Status Quo
• The Leader is comfortable with Informality; the Manager operates with Formality
• The Leader is focused on Effectiveness; the Manager on Efficiency
• The Leader focuses on Styles and Approach; the Manager focuses on Skills
• The Leader Releases Potential; the Manager Uses Existing Abilities
• The Leader mainly uses the Power of Influence; the Manager mainly uses the Power of Authority
• The Leader Facilitate Decisions; the Manager Makes Decisions
• The Leader Investigates Reality; the Manager Accepts Reality
• The Leader asks “why” and “what”; the Manager asks “how” and “when”

For an organization to perform optimally, it essentially needs both effective leadership, and effective management. They can also integrate this into one function, or under the guise of one individual, or split up into two or more positions. Whilst the leader as the frontrunner is the creator, visionary, and motivator, a manager ensures that these lofty goals and standards become a reality and come into realization.

Steven Covey puts it this way, “Effective leadership is putting things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

Richard Brody, a top management executive for over 30 years has professionally run events, consulted to over a thousand leaders, and conducted personal development seminars. He has witnessed, in his long illustrious career, working intently on all aspects of leadership that either an organization has a leader but no manager, or a manager but no leader. Neither model will provide the desired results, because unless they effectively combine both, progress is stagnant and eventually nosedives.

Leadership in the Workplace

Strong leadership in the workplace often means helping your employees create a vision for themselves. It reciprocates to increased cooperation and teamwork.

We can understand the degree of its emphasis in an organization if we put leadership and management into a classic, four-quadrant relationship grid, and analyze the resulting combinations of high and low skills. As shown below, one can examine the resulting interaction that occurs due to the expression of high and low levels of each variable.

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STRONG Leadership – WEAK Management

• Visions detached from reality
• Alignment without organization
• Multiple projects culture slowly emerges
• Strategies lack support and formal planning

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STRONG Leadership – STRONG Management

• Inspirational visions and strategies
• Widespread organizational alignment
• Integrated planning and control of resources
• Full employee empowerment and commitment

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WEAK Leadership – WEAK Management

• No vision or strategies
• Poor planning and resource allocation
• Out of control processes
• Employee disaffection and frustration

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WEAK Leadership – STRONG Management

• Processes grow more unwieldy and/or bureaucratic
• Over-specialization/standardization
• More policies and procedures evolve
• Controls stifle creativity/innovation

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It is clear from the grid above that, in most instances, both strong leadership and strong management are desirable, and that one is not necessarily more important than the other. Leadership in the workplace often requires leaders and managers to help employees visualize themselves. By helping your staff members see their potential and what is possible, you can increase their level of commitment to your team and organization.

Leadership Development

Leadership development covers a wide range of learning methods. These learning aids enhance the leadership skills you already possess.

Here I will unravel some alternatives and the issues relating to the development of leaders, and guide you find your way through. I will present you with several choices within each category, hoping you might decide which approach is ideal for you.

Group or Individual Development

Many organizations use group learning techniques for leadership development activities. These include virtual classrooms, seminars, webinars, workshops, etc.

These are enriching channels of improving knowledge if you enjoy learning in a group. This would be more appropriate if you feel comfortable in contributing and learning from others’ experiences. As leadership essentially involves interacting with people, it could be daunting to develop your leadership confidence if you don’t involve others in your learning circle. The best group-based programs use group exercises which give ample opportunities to practice leadership skills. They also facilitate to give and receive feedback.

Individual development is more focused and covers one-to-one coaching and self-development activities like reading, workbooks, e-learning.

E-learning has grown tremendously in the last few years. Similarly, the market has tons of e-books that provide insights into leadership qualities. There are special devices, like the Kindle, which is exclusively meant for reading e-books while on the go.

These techniques focus on your needs and they progress at your own pace. But self-study alone cannot provide you with the practice and feedback you might need to build your leadership confidence.

Academic or Vocational

Academic programmes are those that are based upon theoretical learning or new research that extends the body of knowledge. They are mainly cognitive and lead to academic qualifications, such as university degrees or diplomas.

Vocational programmes are more practical in their nature and concerns with the application of learning to real-life situations. They focus on skills and less on theory, although they can also lead to vocational qualifications.

However, some university degrees are vocational in nature. In the world of management and leadership, the Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) is an obvious example.

Many organizations run vocational programmes, or corporate training workshops, for their leaders. Some also offer routes to academic programmes for aspirants who do well on vocational ones.

Self-Development

Self-development is about taking responsibility for your own learning and development and showing the initiative to study under your own resources.

Self-development is an important companion to formal programmes offered by others.

But self-development is often not enough on its own. To reduce your learning curve and optimize the time you invest in enhancing your knowledge it is advisable to find a:

Learning Buddy (someone in your own situation who you can learn with); or a

Leadership Coach (someone who can guide you through the learning process and offer feedback and help); or a

Mentor (a wise and more experienced leader who you can turn to when you need help, guidance or feedback).

Dr. Jon Warner a prolific author, management consultant and executive coach with over 25 years’ experience, believes that “ultimately, organizational success rests on a healthy balance of leadership and management. We need to learn how to make sure we have enough of each and in the right proportion for the circumstances.”

The key to getting things that need to be done is indeed the combination of leadership and management. While a manager usually needs to rely on the leader for the overall direction and goals, an efficient manager invariably makes the leadership effective.

Management without leadership is often aimless. But leadership without dedicated management is generally ineffective.

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