LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: MN7185 LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

LEADERS AND MANAGERS

There is always a buzz when we talk about a leader and the manager. Leadership is a skill and the person who possess this ability is known as a LEADER. On the other hand, Management is a discipline, and the practitioner of this discipline is known as the MANAGER.

Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction. Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have been established (Steve Myers, 2019)

Is a good manager automatically a good leader? What is the difference between leadership and management?

The main difference between leaders and managers is that leaders have people follow them while managers have people who work for them.

Definition of Leader

A leader is a person who influences his followers to achieve a specified goal. He is a person with a vision and inspires his followers in such a way that it becomes their vision. He helps them in making the strategy to achieve the goal and possesses a good foresightedness along with the other qualities like- motivating the subordinates, creating teams, innovation, developing trust among the stakeholders, etc.

A leader is required at all levels of the organization which acts as a representative of the organization. He encourages the whole team to work together and supports them in accomplishing their tasks, as a guide or a philosopher (Surbhi, 2019)

Definition of Manager

A manager is a person who manages the organization such that he is responsible for planning, organization, direction, coordination and control. They are the ones who get their work done by the employees through several ways and has the authority to hire or fire the employees. There are various types of managers present in an organization such as top level managers, functional managers, project manager and general manager.

The role of these managers depends on their nature of work like top level managers are held responsible for the vision and mission of the organization, functional managers are responsible for different areas of their work like marketing, sales, accounting, etc. Project managers take the responsibility of accomplishing a certain project, and the role of a general manager is vivid i.e. the various activities performed in the business are managed by him.

Leader and manager have a great role to play in any organization, in the sense that a leader is the one who inspires, encourages and influence his men, to work willingly, in the attainment of the organization’s objectives. On the other hand, a manager is an important link between the firm and its stakeholders, i.e. employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, society, and so forth. He is the one who performs basic managerial functions.

This article excerpt might help you to understand the difference between leader and manager, take a read.

Key Comparisons

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	LEADER	MANAGER
Meaning	A leader is a person who influences his subordinates to achieve a specified goal.	A manager is a person who manages the organization and is responsible for planning, direction, coordination and control
Approach	Sets Direction	Plans details
Attribute	Foresightedness	Mind
Subordinate	Followers	Employees
Style	Transformational	Transactional
Decision	Facilitates decision	Makes decision
Aim	Growth and development.	Attainment of the required result.
Focus	People	Process and Procedure
Change	Leaders promotes change.	Mangers react to change.
Conflict	Uses conflict as an asset	Avoid conflict
People	Aligns people	Organizes people
Strives	For effectiveness	For efficiency