In earlier times, it was easy to differentiate the two. However, in the new economy, where people are wearing many different hats, it’s now expected that managers will come to the table prepared to both lead and manage, with the ultimate goal being to maximize productivity and profitability.
Are you doing both? Here are some ways to tell —
Accomplish Vs Inspire
Both managers and leaders care that work get done. A manager should be able to organize and pull together the necessary elements to finish a project on time. But just because a deadline is met doesn’t mean that the person in charge exhibited leadership.Some managers are just abusive. They believe that the best way to motivate is through fear and intimidation. That never works. Employees may work harder, but they either exit far too soon and turnover becomes an embarrassment, or damage your reputation through ‘nonaggressive evangelism’ — showing others in the company and outside that you’re an undesirable manager to work for.
In contrast, great leaders practice intentional influence. Managers often struggle to achieve the results they desire because when their team fails to deliver, managers typically blame lack of motivation and ask their team to simply work harder. The most influential leaders — the five per cent who succeed consistently at influencing profound and essential behavior change — spend as much as half of their time thinking about and actively influencing the behaviours they know will lead to top performance. They understand that to reserve entrenched habits and improve results they need to create a multifaceted plan to change behaviour across their teams and organisations.
Plan Vs Vision
Managers are good at following through on directions. They may have exceptional ability to stick to budgets, organise resources and stay on track, all of which are important to the day-to-day operations of a company. But these strengths do not always translate into being a leader.The manager is more into the details of getting things done than the leaders. The leader is more into communicating where the organisation is trying to go. She has a vision of what direction her group should go, what the group can accomplish and generally how it should accomplish tasks that lead towards her vision.
Leadership requires good management skills, but the reverse is not necessarily true. Finally, remember that it is one thing to have ideas but quite another to see them through. Leaders use their managerial skills to carry out visions to their full potential.
The best leaders are also good managers. But the bets managers may or may become good leaders. They may not have the vision to know where the organisation should be healing.
At most levels in an organisation, one can be good manager without being a leader by getting tasks done effectively and accomplishing goals set by higher managers and leaders. But at the highest levels, solely being able to manage people well is not enough to be asked to lead the organisation. The board or current Chief Executive Officer must believe you have the vision to take the organisation to greater accomplishments and new heights. — Agencies
