What is leadership within professional environments - and how does it differ from management? There have been whole books written on the nuances, but in a nutshell: a manager plans, organises and coordinates a group a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal, whereas a leader influences, inspires, motivates, and enables others to contribute to achieving organisational aims and success (Murray, n.d.). This definition does not preclude a manager being a leader, or a leader also being a manager. Rather they are overlapping, complementary roles.
If you are going to work on leadership or management skills, it is worth unpacking this a bit more, and identifying some of the key differences.
A manager... |
A leader... |
administers and plans detail
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innovates and sets direction
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directs groups
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builds teams and talent
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maintains and communicates
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persuades and develops
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focuses on systems and structures
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focuses on people
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controls and directs
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Inspires, influences and facilitates
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short-term view
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long-term perspective
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asks how and when
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asks why
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has objectives and are focussed
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has vision and creates shared focus
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accepts the status quo
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challenges the status quo
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react to change
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create change
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have people who work for them
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have people who work with them
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René Carayol (2011), suggests that we “manage a little less and lead a little more”, because the positive culture (‘the way we get things done around here’) within an organisation is much more powerful than strategy. Also, while organisations can have similar strategies, the thing that makes an organisation unique is its culture.
So, while management and leadership go hand-in-hand, supporting the growth of leaders within an organisation can help ensure that an organisation’s heritage is not its destiny - that opinions and processes change because the culture is supportive of that change.
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