LEADERS ARE MANAGERS, BUT MANAGERS ARE NOT NECESSARILY LEADERS

Figure 01: Who are Leaders? Who are Managers?

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Definitions:

Leaders – Who have own vision, able to communicate their vision to followers, and always influence their followers to do the right things rather than what is expedient. Leaders are always willing to act as risk taker on their decisions, have integrity, represent their followers’ thinking and drive the followers to final goals or destiny (Benson, 2003).

Managers – Who perform under assigned authority, pre defined task plans or action plans and they are trained to use their authorization and powers to control such processes and employees to do things right. Managers are responsible for their actions with such delegated authority. Managers make decisions, solve problems as they arise and given orders.Always accept the organization’s makeup and culture and do all that they can to cement the Company’s status quo (Benson, 2003).

Commonalities (https://toughnickel.com)

Leaders and managers share numbers of things in common. They differ, however, in how they deal with following commonalities and differences.

1. People

Both leaders and managers work with people. However, for a leader, people are the reason, the cause for whom an endeavor is taken on, a vision attained or a project completed. For a manager, people are primarily a means to achieve a significant achievement, accomplishing an important task or completing a project.

2. Reality

Both managers and leaders understand that there is a collective condition, a Reality, that's unacceptable to a group of people. A leader's intention, however, is to help those people believe in the Vision of a solution to their Reality. The manager's intention is to motivate them on a gradual path to a Vision.

3. Vision

People often form a Vision of how they want things to be, which is important to both leaders and managers. Leader help people forge a shared vision that they believe in and communicate it back to them to get their agreement. Manager help people make that Vision actionable by breaking it down in incremental goals, projects and tasks and providing the necessary resources for moving forward in the direction of the Vision.

4. Gap or Cognitive Dissonance

The gap between the Reality and the Vision, also known as Cognitive Dissonance in psychology, gives rise to an endeavor. Leaders use Cognitive Dissonance to help people carve out a path from Reality to Vision that they can believe in. Managers use Cognitive Dissonance to help people take specific action steps on a specific path.

5. Path

Both leaders and managers understand that people need to choose a common path to go from their Reality to their Vision. Once the path is chosen, leaders make certain that people remain on the right path to the right Vision. Managers, however, make sure that their progress on that path is pursued efficiently - as quickly as possible and at the minimum expenditure of resources.

6. A Higher Purpose (Optional)

People often share a sense of mission or purpose that transcends the avoidance of Reality and achieving of a Vision. Both leaders and managers make use of Higher Purpose. Leaders bring out the best in people, their higher angels, so they will give their whole beings to the achievement of the Vision. Managers tap into people's higher purpose and transform it into a selfless sense of persistence, endurance and perseverance.

  

Key Differences (Naik, 2016)

– The manager maintains; the leader develops.

– The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.

– The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

– The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

– The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

– The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.

– The manager imitates; the leader originates.

– The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

– The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

– The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

– The manager administers; the leader innovates.

– The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.

Deals with above commonalities and differences, person can act as a leader and good manager at one time, because of leaders have inbuilt managers.

Manager can turn as leader, when he or she identified real leadership personality traits and developed same. Then the managers motivate their employees to believe important of task, also influence to employees to do right things in right way and was become a forge and panoramic vision, strategic and effective manager. However, manager responsible to maintain efficiency of processes and task oriented, therefore, manager is not necessarily a leader and he or she has to maintain their real leadership personality traits to achieve their key performance indicators.

References

https://www.thefabricator.com/article/shopmanagement/managers-are-not-necessarily-leaders

https://www.getassist.com/the-difference-between-a-leader-and-a-manager/

http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-is-the-difference-between-manage...

https://toughnickel.com/business/Leader-vs-Manager

https://pixabay.com/en/photos/leadership/