Leadership

The main aim of a manager is to maximise the output of the organisation through administrative implementation. To achieve this, managers must undertake the following functions; organisation planning staffing directing controlling. The leader’s job is to inspire and motivate "Leaders are observant and sensitive people. They know their team and develop mutual confidence within it."

(John Fenton ‘101 Ways to Boost Your Business Performance’, 1990)

Managers think incrementally, whilst leaders think radically. "Managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing.”

(Richard Pascale Penguin Book, 1990)

This means that managers do things by the book and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company.

A leader is someone who people naturally follow through their own choice, whereas a manager must be obeyed. A manager may only have obtained his position of authority through time and loyalty given to the company, not as a result of his leadership qualities. A leader may have no organisational skills, but his vision unites people behind him.

A leader is someone who people naturally follow through their own choice, whereas a manager must be obeyed. A manager may only have obtained his position of authority through time and loyalty given to the company, not as a result of his leadership qualities. A leader may have no organisational skills, but his vision unites people behind him. Management usually consists of people who are experienced in their field, and who have worked their way up the company. A manager knows how each layer of the system works and may also possess a good technical knowledge. A leader can be a new arrival to a company who has bold, fresh, new ideas but might not have experience or wisdom.

Sometimes with small groups, it is not the manager who emerges as the leader. In many cases it is a subordinate member (leader) with specific talents who leads the group in a certain direction. "Leaders must let vision, strategies, goals, and values be the guide-post for action and behaviour rather than attempting to control others."

Leadership is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. Effort and care must be taken in distinguishing between the two concepts. The main aim of a manager is to maximise the output of the organisation through administrative implementation. To achieve this, managers must undertake different functions such as organisation, planning, staffing, directing and controlling. Leadership is just one important component of the directing function. A manager cannot just be a leader; he also needs formal authority to be effective.

When a natural leader emerges in a group containing a manager, conflict may arise if they have different views. When a manager sees the group looking towards someone else for leadership he may feel his authority is being questioned. Leadership is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. Effort and care must be taken in distinguishing between the two concepts. Leadership is just one important component of the directing function. A manager cannot just be a leader; he also needs formal authority to be effective. "For any quality initiative to take hold, senior management must be involved and act as a role model. This involvement cannot be delegated."

 

 Below I have listed some more differences between a manager and a leader:

– The manager administers; the leader innovates.

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

– 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.

(Warren Bennis "On becoming a leader" 1989)

The key differences between management and leadership that Kotter (1990) mentions are:

Management	Leadership
Control and Solve problem	Motivate and inspire
Plan and Budget	Establish a direction
Organise things	Align people with a vision
Encourage order and predictability	Encourage change

Mullins (2007) also mentioned some key differences which are:

Management	Leadership
Impersonal	Personal
Low level of emotional involvement	Have empathy
Planning, organising, directing, controlling	Communicating, motivating, encouraging
Results	Transforms

(Mary Simpson, n.d.)

From looking at theories from Kotter and Mullins we can see that they mention key differences between management and leadership.

Management is more impersonal; it relates to planning and making change and tends to be more formal, on the other hand leadership is more personal, it has emotion and feelings attached to it and also requires some sort of skill that the person has in order to become a leader. For example  

Leadership is not always required, the reason being is sometime groups or individuals can be self motivated therefore they may not require a single leader and could find leaders dominating. The fact that a leader is not always required proves that leadership is just an asset and is not essential. Groups are often more loyal to a leader than a manager. This loyalty is created by the leader taking responsibility in areas such as taking the blame when things go wrong, celebrating group achievements even minor ones, giving individual’s appraisals, and all credit where it is due. An example of a good leader was Winston Churchill, he lead Great Britain for most of World War Two and Churchill’s ‘bulldog’ spirit seemed to summarise the mood of the British people even during the bad times, such as Dunkirk, and the inspirational victories, such as the Battle of Britain. Winston Churchill took different forms of leadership including being a conservative MP, then he went on to being part of a liberal party, Winston Churchillwas alsmade First Lord of the Admiralty, In this post, he did a great deal to ensure that the navy was in a state to fight a war. With such actions may have marked him down as a man who would do his utmost to maintain law and order.

A key leader within an organisation and what made them him/her an effective leader

While at college, I considered my business teacher to be an effective leader. My business teacher had many traits which enabled to him to be an effective leader, such as his ability to be able to lead and manage a large class. A leader is very personal, so when this teacher taught the class he always ensured that he was using different teaching techniques, such as PowerPoint presentations, use of activities on blackboard, handing out task sheets etc this further made him an effective leader as he always considered every students personal needs.

My business teacher was able to motivate and inspire students to work harder and also gave up a lot of his spare time to help students with their personal and educational problems. This shows evidence of my teacher being an effective leader as he not only can lead a class but is also able to give out advice when needed. Kotter mentioned that leaders can establish directions (Simpson, 2011); my business teacher was able to establish directions by making students focus on the future and where they would like to be heading.

The trait theory can relate to my business teacher, this theory suggests that leaders are born not made. The trait theory mentions that leaders have an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals. This statement describes my old business teacher as he always showed a strong desire and enthusiasm to reach all goals set. A leader is also respected, personally I believe that everyone respected this teacher as he always lead everyone in a positive manner while ensuring that everyone is happy with his work.

Conclusion
Managing and leading are two different ways of organising people. The manager uses a formal, rational method whilst the leader uses passion and stirs emotions. A manager usually consists of people who are experienced in their field, and who have worked their way up the company. A manager knows how each layer of the system works and may also possess a good technical knowledge. A leader can be a new arrival to a company who has bold, fresh, new ideas and understanding as a person who is easy to talk to however he/she might not have experience or wisdom.

References

Daniel. F. Predpall, ‘Developing Quality Improvement Processes In Consulting Engineering Firms’, Journal of Management in Engineering, pp 30-31, May-June 1994

Mary Simpson, n.d.

Richard Pascale, ‘Managing on the Edge’, Penguin Book, pp 65, 1990
John Fenton, ‘101 Ways to Boost Your Business Performance’, Mandarin Business, pp 113, 1990