Is every manager a leader ?

Leadership and Management are two topics which have a combination in creating many arguments. Leadership is an ageless topic whereas Management is a topic which developed over last 100 years.

Many studies have brought in to attention that similarities of both topics as well as dissimilarities. Some may assume that a manager is a leader. But its not a accurate statement since some of the managers do not exercise leadership and some people lead others without having any management position.

Management

Kotter, (2001) states that the management is a job which takes care of planning, organizing, budgeting, coordinating and monitoring activities for group or organization. Katz, (1955) emphasized that management responsibilities are usually task-oriented, and it involves developing staff, mentoring persons with high potential and resolving conflicts while maintaining ethics and discipline. Moreover, Mangers are aiming to reach short term goals, avoid any risks and establish standardization to improve efficiency (Kotterman, 2006). Management is a process by which definite set objectives are achieved through the efficient use of resources (Northouse, 2007). All such definitions are defining the Management as a process to achieve organizational goals.

The researches of Katz, (1955) has shown that, to be an effective manager there should be three main special skill sets. 

• Technical    - Competencies within a specialized field or the ability to use appropriate tools and techniques.

• Human       - Ability to work with people which allows a manager to assist group members to complete a task.

• Conceptual  - Ability to work with ideas. 

Leadership

Leadership has been defined as a behavior, a style, a skill, a process, a responsibility, an experience, a function of management, a position of authority, an influencing relationship, a characteristic and an ability (Northouse, 2007). Further, Kotter, (1990) defined the leadership as a capacity for collective action to vitalize. A leader is a someone who has followers (Drucker, 1999). Apart from above, some are defining leadership in the view of that leaders have the power which they wield to effect changes in others. They called this 'Power relationship' & this exists between leaders and followers. In the view of leadership is a 'Transformational process' some believe that followers are accomplishing more than what usually expected from them. 'Skills perspective' is one of the view points which some are arguing the capabilities (knowledge and skills) that make effective leadership possible.

Despite the number of definitions available to define the leadership concept, four main components can be identified as common which most of the definitions are focused on.

• Leadership is a process
• Leadership involves influence
• Leadership occurs in groups
• Leadership involves common goals

Leader Vs Manager

In 1977 Abraham Zalezink wrote the first scholarly article about the difference between leaders and managers. Zalezink, (1977) emphasized that an organization needs both effective managers and effective leaders in order to drive the organization to achieve its goals but he argues that managers and leaders have different contribution. According to him, leaders are bringing changes, new approaches and they work to understand people's beliefs to gain their commitment whereas Managers are working on stability, excising authority and working to get things accomplished. Therefore management and leadership need different types of people (Zalezink, 1977). 

Though in some ways the leadership is similar to management, we can see multitude ways which can differentiate these two topics. Fayol, (1916) firstly identified the primary functions of management as planning, organizing, staffing and controlling. 

Studies of Kotter, (1990) brings us the comparison of the management and leadership functions which confirms that the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement whereas the primary function of management is to provide order and consistency to organizations. Accordingly, management is about seeking order and stability and the leadership is about seeking adaptive and constructive change (Kotter, 1990).

Bass, (1990) in his "Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of leadership mentioned that "Leaders manage and managers lead, but the two activities are not synonymous. Management functions can potentially provide leadership; leadership activities can contribute in managing. Nevertheless, some managers do not lead, and some leaders do not manage''.

A leader believes in vision and goals, he has strong values, and works to make sure that his attendants are in the right direction (Covey, 2003). Hull and Ozeroff, (2004) wrote leaders as good communicators because they spend more time with their followers. Further, leaders are aware about their team members' professional strengths, weaknesses, emotional standings, their place in the organization which allow them to know how to motivate them. An important quote brought by Bennis and Nanus, (2007) "Managers do things right, while leaders do the right things". 

In summery, the primary mission of both leaders and managers is to control and influence other people.The most important difference between these two types is their approach to achieve the goals. Managers exercise their control through formal power, but leaders use their vision, and by inspiration, motivation to align their followers (The Guardian, 2013).

Can a manager be a leader ?

While understanding the facts we discussed above it can be clearly identified that management and leadership are two different concepts which can influence an organization through its workforce towards its success or failure. 

However every organization needs managers and leaders, and their roles should be viewed as complementary to one another. 

Of course in my point of view, a manager can be a leader if he has the capacity and the ability to develop the leadership skills to cope with new challenges and transform organizations in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

Reference

Bass, (1990). Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research & Managerial Applications, 3rd Ed., The Free Press, New York, NY

Bennis and Nanus, (2007). Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. NewYork, NY: HarperCollins.

Covey, (2003). Principle Centered Leadership. New York: Franklin Covey Company.

Drucker, (1999) Knowledge-worker productivity: The biggest challenge. California Management Review, 41 (2), 79.

Fayol, (1916). General and industrial management. London: Pitman. 

Hull and Ozeroff, (2004). The transitioning from Manager to leader. New York: Harper and Row. 

Katz, (1955). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33(1), 33-42.

Kotter, (1990b). A force for change: How leadership differs from management. New York, NY: Free Press.  

Kotter, (2001), “What leaders really do?“, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79 Issue 11, p.85-96

Kotterman, (2006), “Leadership vs Management: What’s the difference?”, Journal for Quality & Participation, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p.13-17

Northouse, (2007). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 

The Guardian. (2013). What's the difference between leadership and management?. Available at <http://careers.theguardian.com/difference-between-leadership-management>

Zaleznik, (1977), ‘Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? Harvard Business Review, May/June, p. 67-78.