Leadership or Management
The terms “leadership” and “management” are seen very differently by diverse people.
Some individuals see these terms as synonyms and frequently use them interchangeably
throughout phrases and sentences. Others approach them as extreme opposites; so extreme,
in fact, that they would argue that you cannot be a good manager and a good leader
at the same time. Still other people reside somewhere in the middle and realize that
while there is a difference between leadership and management, with the right knowledge
an individual can successfully navigate both from the same position.
Today’s groups, organizations, and teams need both effective leaders and effective
managers to run a successful operation. While some obvious similarities (i.e. they
both involve influencing constituents or employees; authority and power are generally
given with both positions) can be found between leadership and management, there
are also some striking differences (i.e. management is often more task-oriented;
leadership is often considered more inspirational and visionary). For the purposes
of this publication, leadership and management are defined somewhat differently;
nonetheless, it is still understood that one person can work efficiently in mastering
both fields.
Our definition of leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group
of individuals to achieve a common goal. Breaking this down even more, while there
are a variety of leadership definitions out there, there are specific components
that are central to the majority of these definitions. Leadership:
- Is a process
- Involves influence
- Occurs in a group context (you need to have at least one constituent)
- Involves goal attainment
No matter how you operationalize leadership, these components play some small role
in the definition or theory utilized.
So how does one distinguish between leadership and management? In table 1 below you
will see a direct comparison between leadership and management activities. An individual
can be a great leader, a great manager, or both, but each area requires the mastery
of slightly different skills and competencies.
