Apr
8
Leaders vs. Managers….. Are they really different?
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Photo by Hamed Saber
The debate between leadership and management has been raging for a number of years. I feel that the distinction between management a leadership is useful one, in that it help us gain a better understanding of leadership and causes us to reflect on our own behaviour, asking ourselves, "Are we really leading?" So what are the differences between managers and leaders?
"There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Leading is influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion. The distinction is crucial" - Warren Bennis
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I like the work of Warren Bennis, in his book "On Becoming a Leader" he describes his view of the differences between managers and leaders as follows:
- 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 accepts reality; the leader investigates it.
- 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 has his or her eye 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.
This is a great list and it always causes me to pause a reflect on my own behaviour and ask "Where am I spending most of my time? Doing the left hand tasks or doing the right hand tasks?"
Another influential thinker on the distinction between management and leadership is John Kotter author of "John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do" in the book John makes the following observations:
- “Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action…… Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.”
- “Most U.S. corporations today are overmanaged and underled.”
- “Strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse.”
- “Management is about coping with complexity….. Without good management, complex enterprises tend to become chaotic… Good management brings a degree of order and consistency…."
- "Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change…. More change always demands more leadership.”
- “Companies manage complexity by planning and budgeting, by organizing and staffing, and by controlling and problem solving. By contrast, leading an organization to constructive change involves setting a direction (developing a vision of the future and strategies to achieve the vision), aligning people, and motivating and inspiring them to keep moving in the right direction."
I like the point that John Kotter makes when he says that “Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action…… Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.” The fact is that leadership and management are both important, they are two distinctive systems of action, both are necessary, each seek to do different things.
On this topic, Jim Estill posted this great quote on his blog, "CEO Blog - Time Leadership" citing a classic article from Harvard Business Review by Abraham Zaleznik in 1977 that addresses Leaders vs. Managers. From the Best of HBR:
"The difference between managers and leaders, he wrote, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in the psyches, of chaos and order. Managers embrace process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly - sometimes before they fully understand a problem’s significance. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully in this way, Zalenznik argued, business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists and other creative thinkers than they do with managers. Organizations need both managers and leaders to succeed, but developing both requires a reduced focus on logic and strategic exercises in favour of an environment where creativity and imagination are permitted to flourish."
In the end, we need to be good at leading first and managing second, the what and why ….. then……. the how and the when!
Reflecting on your behaviour over the past month, ask yourself:
- Where are you find yourself spending the majority of your time? Managing or leading?
- Given that most organisations are "over managed and under led", What two management tasks can delegate this week? What two leadership behaviour do you need to focus on and improve this week?
Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Leader, Manager, Book, Quote, Business, Change, Vision, Efficiency, Effectiveness
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18 Responses to “Leaders vs. Managers….. Are they really different?”
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Great post; I enjoyed your thoroughness. In the humble attribution that great minds think alike, I have recently blogged on the same subject and even the same seminal thinker, Bennis.
http://garywinters.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/do-you-over-manage-and-under-lead/
Interesting post. Marcus Buckingham talks a lot about this and in the most recent post, you can get a feel for some of the differences.
Take a look: http://www.bookreviewsummaries.com
[...] or do you lead by setting a direction, aligning people and motivating? George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership explains the difference extremely [...]
[...] Leadership-Blog findet sich eine interessante Polemik zur Frage: Was unterscheidet einen Manager von einem [...]
[...] Die Karrierebibel hat zugleich Praktisches und Tiefgründiges zum Unterschied zwischen “Management” und “Leadership” aufgetan. Beides zugleich findet man selten. Original (englisch) und ausführlicher im Leadership-Blog! [...]
George,
Great post! I especially like the list of the differences between managers and leaders; it definitely causes introspection. And your questions at the end are most appropriate. Thank you.
Michael
PS. I found your blog through my Google alert; I’ve got it book marked and will keep in touch.
I often open my leadership development workshops by asking people to make a list of all of the things that they need to do to be effective in their jobs. After they fill a page, I work with the group to delineate the difference between manager and leader behaviors. I then have them reflect back on their list of what they need to do to be effective in their job and label each item with an “M” if it’s a manager behavior or an “L” if it’s a leader behavior. Not surprisingly, the lists are generally top-heavy with M’s.
The key insight is that both are needed, but often, people are out of balance. Success is driven by both leader AND manager behaviors.
Great managers can be great leaders, and great leaders can be great managers. Great leaders and managers ALWAYS empower everyone around them to create the maximum amount of energy which leads to satisfied team members.
George,
I’ve often had difficulty with those making the distinction between leadership and managment. I think it’s mainly because those that condsider themselves “leaders” believe they are exempt and actually above management activities. They go around pretending they are engaging in cerebral activity and telling other the same. Unfortunately, no one is listening.
I’ve had people actually tell me that they are leaders and not managers. If you need to tell someone you are a leader, you probably aren’t, or at the very least, you’re not a very good one!
To be sure, for a person to be a good manager, s/he must have many leadership traits. I like your last comment which references leading first then managing. Good leaders are good managers and vice versa.
To reference the Bennis quote for instance…
I never knew a good manager that didn’t concentrate on the people as well as focusing on processes and relentless execution. Never knew a good leader that didn’t do the same.
Never knew a good manager that wasn’t his/her own person. Of course nearly every leader is led by another and must tow the line as well.
Leadership and management are very tightly intertwined. Ignoring characteristics of one is done at the expense of the other.
[...] Verwendung der Begriffe Management, Leadership und Führung. Nun hat George Ambler auf seinem Blog The Practice of Leadership noch einmal nachgelegt und sich die Frage gestellt, ob Leader und Manager wirklich so [...]
[...] McCormick’s comment left on George Ambler’s Leaders vs. Managers….. Are they really different? did a great job summing up my feelings on this perpetual [...]
Hi George, Yesterday I started a discussion at LeadershipTurn.com that considers Bennis’ 13 differences in light of today’s workforce. I’d love to have you and your readers participate.
I was really inspired reading those comparison between managers and leaders. Did a several readings of it and made some reflections to who’s the real man. No doubt it’s the leader, well in my point of view.
Liked your post.
-Jan
I found the above distinction useful,but can you explain abit on the views of Warren Bennis (as indicated above) in his book ‘On Becoming a Leader” eg. a Manager is a copy and a leader is an Original. What does it mean. How can these views be related to Change Management
Thanks
My concern, always my main cocncern… do people truly understand the meaning of leading.I think the list is a great tool to help individuals identify where they are and what they need to develop if they wish to become a leader.
Communication is so important in this effort, understanding how one communicates: listening, feedback, content vs. process all so important in developing and understanding leadership qualities.
http://www.leadershipstokes.com
[...] have written in a previous posts on the differences between management and leadership and recently I can across an interesting article with an interesting take on the topic. [...]
well penned, George.
My own opinion? Leaders manage but not all managers lead. The big difference? Vision and the ability to apply it in everything a leader does.
sf, and check six
Boom
http://checksixtv.googlepages.com
The debate between leadership and management has been raging for a number of years. I feel that the distinction between management a leadership is useful one, in that it help us gain a better understanding of leadership and causes us to reflect on our own behaviour, asking ourselves, “Are we really leading?” So what are the differences between managers and leaders?
“There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Leading is influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion. The distinction is crucial” - Warren Bennis
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I like the work of Warren Bennis, in his book “On Becoming a Leader” he describes his view of the differences between managers and leaders as follows:
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 accepts reality; the leader investigates it.
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 has his or her eye 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.
This is a great list and it always causes me to pause a reflect on my own behaviour and ask “Where am I spending most of my time? Doing the left hand tasks or doing the right hand tasks?”
Another influential thinker on the distinction between management and leadership is John Kotter author of “John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do” in the book John makes the following observations:
“Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action…… Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.”
“Most U.S. corporations today are overmanaged and underled.”
“Strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse.”
“Management is about coping with complexity….. Without good management, complex enterprises tend to become chaotic… Good management brings a degree of order and consistency….”
“Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change…. More change always demands more leadership.”
“Companies manage complexity by planning and budgeting, by organizing and staffing, and by controlling and problem solving. By contrast, leading an organization to constructive change involves setting a direction (developing a vision of the future and strategies to achieve the vision), aligning people, and motivating and inspiring them to keep moving in the right direction.”
I like the point that John Kotter makes when he says that “Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action…… Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.” The fact is that leadership and management are both important, they are two distinctive systems of action, both are necessary, each seek to do different things.
On this topic, Jim Estill posted this great quote on his blog, “CEO Blog - Time Leadership” citing a classic article from Harvard Business Review by Abraham Zaleznik in 1977 that addresses Leaders vs. Managers. From the Best of HBR:
“The difference between managers and leaders, he wrote, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in the psyches, of chaos and order. Managers embrace process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly - sometimes before they fully understand a problem’s significance. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully in this way, Zalenznik argued, business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists and other creative thinkers than they do with managers. Organizations need both managers and leaders to succeed, but developing both requires a reduced focus on logic and strategic exercises in favour of an environment where creativity and imagination are permitted to flourish.”
In the end, we need to be good at leading first and managing second, the what and why ….. then……. the how and the when!
Reflecting on your behaviour over the past month, ask yourself:
Where are you find yourself spending the majority of your time? Managing or leading?
Given that most organisations are “over managed and under led”, What two management tasks can delegate this week? What two leadership behaviour do you need to focus on and improve this week?