Differences between managers and leaders
Many managers will often find themselves in a position of leadership. However, there is a difference between the role of a leader and a manager. While a manager will manage resources in order to achieve a specific goal, a leader will have people who follow them. From this definition, it is possible to determine the difference between a manager and a leader, in terms of their roles in an organization. The main role of a manager is to organize and manage resources in order to achieve a set goal. In many cases, these resources will include personnel who will perform the tasks needed to achieve the goal. According to Valeriu (2015), this involves planning the actions that the organization needs to carry out in order to achieve a specific objective. The role of a leader is to inspire and motivate people, to guide them in a particular intended direction. Lee, (2016), points out that based on the trickledown effect leaders greatly influence their followers who seek to emulate them.
For instance, a manager will have leadership roles in most cases while a leader does not need to have management roles, although management skills are important. In many organizations, a leader will also double up as a manager. In order to achieve the organization’s overall objectives, it is important that a person possess both the management and leadership skills required. The management skills will enable them to organize the resources present in the most efficient way in order to meet the objectives, as well as, solving any problems facing the organization (Abraham, 2017). The leadership skills will allow the person to guide the people working under him or her in order to meet the objectives. The fact that leadership involves the use of power to influence individuals helps leaders guide those that follow (Abraham, 2017). Therefore, leadership is a skill required in management because a leader is also working with people, it is also important that they have some management skills. However, a leader can delegate management to skilled personnel, leaving them with the key role of providing the overall direction and guidance to the team working under them.
Being a successful leader:
Being a successful leader requires a number of qualities. Honesty is one of the most important qualities of a leader. A leader will have followers and it is important that the leader is always honest with his followers. According to Grover, (2014) honesty is one of the factors that followers use to form perceptions about a leader. This allows the followers to understand their position in the organization. When a leader is honest with their followers, they know what is expected of them because there are certain standards applied by the leader to everyone, including the leader himself. Followers also show higher levels of satisfaction when the leader is honest (Grover, 2014)
A leader must also have the ability to communicate with his followers. In many cases, a leader will provide the direction, which the followers will follow. However, it is not enough for a leader to have a vision. They must be able to communicate this vision with the followers (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2017). This is very important because the aim is to let the followers have the same goal as the leader. The leader must therefore be clear and concise with his communications. One important aspect of communication is the ability to listen. Daimler (2016) points out that listening is one of the most overlooked communication skill that is critical. Therefore, it is just as important for a leader to listen to his team as it is for them to listen to him. During the course of a project, the individuals performing the low-level tasks will face difficulties. They must be able to communicate these problems to the leaders in order to gain guidance. The leader must therefore be able to listen to their followers in order to fulfill their responsibilities (Daimler, 2016).
The ability to delegate is also a very important quality of a leader. According to D’Innocenzo, Mathieu, & Kukenberger (2016) this requires the adoption of a shared leadership model. Typically, a leader will have many followers under them, who share the same goals and objectives with the leader. Each of these people will have their own skills and it is up to the leader to be able to recognize the strengths of each of their followers. The leader will already know that it is impossible to achieve their goals single handedly. This results from the view that leaders cannot possess all the required skills (D’Innocenzo, Mathieu, & Kukenberger, 2016). They should therefore have the ability to recognize the strengths of each follower and delegate duties to them that will best use their skills in order to achieve the overall objectives of the organization.
A leader should also be able to identify their weak points. A leader is a human being and like any other human being, the leader will have strong points and weak points (D’Innocenzo, Mathieu, & Kukenberger, 2016). The leader will obviously use their strong points in their role. However, it is also important that a leader recognizes their weak points and adopt shared leadership in order to improve efficiency (D’Innocenzo, Mathieu, & Kukenberger, 2016). Hand in hand with the ability of the leader to recognize their own weaknesses, a leader should also be able to recognize the weaknesses of their team (Waldman and Bowen, 2016). Where a leader recognizes a weakness in the team, he should be willing to collaborate with other people from outside their team in order to address the weaknesses identified. This helps the team to be able to achieve its objectives despite having weaknesses that would have otherwise affected its ability to meet the objectives.
A leader should also be confident (Waldman and Bowen, 2016). Followers will expect a leader to provide direction. In many cases, leaders will come up with unconventional ideas. This will usually involve uncertain decisions. According to Waldman and Bowen (2016), a leader should therefore be able to show self-confidence in their ideas to inspire the followers. Once a leader delegates a task to a team member, they must also be able to show confidence in the member that they will be able to achieve the task assigned. Once a leader shows confidence, the people under him will also get the confidence that the leader knows what he or she is doing and will therefore be more ready to follow their directions (Waldman and Bowen, 2016).
Once a leader comes up with the direction for the team, they must show commitment to the cause. This will typically involve leading by example as opposed to non-bidding pledges (Dannenberg, 2015). This instills confidence in the team and helps them to achieve the goals. A leader can achieve this by showing commitment to the cause they set up in the first place. In many instances during projects will face difficulties. It is important for a leader to possess a positive attitude in such situations. This motivates the team members to have the same outlook. A positive attitude is very important in overcoming difficulties. It allows the team to put in extra effort required to overcome the problem. However, this is only possible if the leader has the ability to inspire their team through having a positive attitude (Greer, 2016).
When working as a team, there are certain tasks that become routine. However, new scenarios are bound to arise. It is important for a leader to have intuition and creativity when dealing with such situations. When new scenarios arise, they are uncertain territories for the team. A leader must therefore show creativity in coming up with new ways of dealing with such scenarios (Carmeli, A, Gelbard, R, & Reiter-Palmon, 2013). The leader should be able to draw from previous experience in order to come up with the best direction for the team. The leader must also be intuitive to be able to recognize how best to deal with uncertain scenarios. This provides the direction needed for the team in order to achieve the best results. After setting the general direction for the team, a leader must focus towards achieving the overall goal. During their activities, a leader should be able to have focus towards achieving the overall direction. This helps them in guiding the members and other resources towards achieving the set objectives. This is important as it ensures that the team focuses on the goals, which makes it easier to achieve them.
A leader should also have the ability to take responsibility for and manage failures. During any project, failures are likely to occur. Failure can occur for many reasons such as unforeseen circumstances, as well as, poor planning (Mishra, Parra & Abeel, 2014). When such failure occurs, a leader primarily must have the ability to take responsibility for the failure. Once they have taken the responsibility, the leader should be able to come up with ways for compensating for the failure. Furthermore, Mishra, Parra & Abeel (2014) points out there is a lot to learn from failure. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge failure. However, many people in leadership positions fail in their role because of inability to take responsibility for failure. As witnessed in many organizations, leaders will want to take credit for achievements but blame others when failure occurs. This works negatively for the team as they are under pressure since they receive blame if failure occurs. This in turn reduces the motivation of the team and increases the likelihood of failure actually occurring. Bell (2015) proposes that leaders should also support those who fail within their teams. This is critical in helping them establish their weaknesses and taking advantage of their strengths.
A leader must also be fearless. In the course of their roles, leaders will come up against uncertain scenarios. In new scenarios, the leader must be able to show fearlessness. This helps the team to take risks that are likely to result in rewards for the overall objective. In case failure occurs, the leader should be able to show appreciation for the attempts and be able to learn from the mistakes so that they can address similar future situations accordingly (Bell, 2015).
A team constitutes of different individuals each with their own individual emotions and needs. A leader must be supportive to all team members both within and without their roles in the organization. This leads to high levels of perceived organizational support within the followers (Hyatt, 2013). Furthermore, being supportive allows the team leader to form bonds with the members. This allows the members to be supportive of the leader and this increases the overall effectiveness of the team. Being supportive also shows the ability of the leader to care for their team members. When a leader takes care of his members, the members are in turn inclined to care for the leader. This includes the leader’s strategy. This is beneficial to the organization as it allows it to meets its objectives. According to Hyatt (2013) this results directly from the fact that such supported followers feel obligated to be committed towards the organization’s success (Hyatt, 2013).
In being supportive, a leader must also be genuine. A leader will usually project a certain image to his followers. This image can be either an asset or a liability for the leader (Criswell & Campbell, 2008). The leader’s values, leadership style, and individual nature underpin this image. The lack of a well-developed image may lead to followers forming assumptions around these factors (Criswell & Campbell, 2008). Therefore, a leader must be able to uphold these values in all scenarios whether in the workplace or in their private lives. This is important so that the members of the team know that their leader is genuine. This instills confidence in the members that the leader will hold them to standards set by the leader.
One of the most important qualities of a leader is being humble. A leader is in a position of power where they can influence their followers. However, a great leader will show respect to every member of their team, no matter how small their role is. Once a worker feels respected, they have pride in their work and they are motivated to work harder to help the organization meet its objectives. By being humble and treating followers with respect, a leader is able to foster a better working environment. Being in a position of power, a leader can affect the lives of their followers. It is therefore important that a worker receive assurance that he or she will receive respect in their roles. This gives them the confidence and motivation needed to perform their roles in the organization effectively (Owens and Hekman, 2016).
According to Avolio, Howell, and Sosik, (1999), humor is an important characteristic of a leader. Team members look up to a leader is looked to set up the atmosphere they will work in. the atmosphere where team members will work in must be conducive for the type of work. By having a sense of humor, a leader is able to create a fun workplace where workers are work freely. This allows each team member to feel comfortable and allows him or her to use his or her strengths for the best benefits of the organization. Based on research by Roze (2014) humor is an important tool in improving the overall organization’s social environment.
Once the team meets an objective, a leader must be able to celebrate. This will typically involve recognizing the efforts of the individuals in the team. This is very important as it allows the team to take a rest after the completion of a major objective. During the course of a project, a lot of concentration is required. Once the project is complete, the leader must be able to recognize the efforts of the people involved as well as allow them time to rest and recharge so that they can be ready for the next project.
Leadership development:
Leadership development is possible since as observed, a good leader must have a number of important qualities. This implies that a leader can develop some of these qualities over time. As observed by Ferguson Publishing (2009), many companies have leadership-training programs aimed at improving leadership skills. Training requires a leader to be self-aware of their qualities (Ferguson Publishing, 2009). Once a leader is aware of the qualities, they can then separate the qualities into two groups, which are the strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are the qualities that the leader already possesses and the weaknesses are those qualities that the leader does not possess. The weaknesses are usually what are preventing the leader from being an effective leader. For instance, a person can be creative but their inability to communicate can be preventing them from being an effective leader. The leader can then focus on the weaknesses to help them in becoming an effective leader.
However, not all weaknesses can be corrected. In the qualities of a good leader, there are learnt qualities and in-born qualities commonly referred to as traits. In many cases, traits are what are important in determining whether a leader will be effective or not. Traits are difficult to learn. For example, a dishonest person is likely to continue being dishonest even in a position of leadership. It is even more likely that a person will become more dishonest once they are in a position of power. This means that not everyone can be a leader. However, if a person has the character traits of a good leader, it is possible for them to receive training on being an effective leader. Qualities such as communication and creativity can be acquired through training (Pauley & Pauley, 2009). However, most of the traits required for a leader cannot be taught. This means that it is possible to develop good leadership but only if the individual involved possesses the basic traits that define a good leader. They can then improve their other qualities, which results in them being a good leader.
Lessons learnt about leadership
There are many lessons drawn from personal experiences on good leadership. I have personally met some people in positions of leaderships with the good qualities of a leader. As mentioned, the main role of a leader is to provide direction for the people under them. In order for a team to be successful, it takes the combined effort of every person working within the organization. I have interacted with leaders whose main intention was to bring their team together in order to achieve success. Similarly, if an organization is unable to meet its objectives, it is usually a result of failure by every member of the organization. I have met good leaders who take responsibility for failure and instead of blaming their juniors. This is a result of the leader being able to take responsibility for failure. This is good leadership since it allowed the effective management of the issues that led to the failure.
There have also been many instances where I have interacted with dishonest honest leaders. This type of leaders will come up with very high targets for their organizations, with the aim of making the organization look successful. For such leaders, when it comes to the actual work, they refuse to engage in unscrupulous and illegal activities in order to meet the targets. Honesty has become a premium with many leaders especially in the modern ultra-competitive business environment. Many of these leaders convince themselves that if they were honest, they would be uncompetitive. The recent scandals at Volkswagen and Wells Fargo are examples of leaders being dishonest and not taking responsibility for their mistakes and instead blaming others, yet the same leaders were quick to take credit when the same companies were seen to be successful.
Through my experience, I have experienced good leaders who identify with those that work under them. In many cases, leaders are removed from the lives of the people they work under. For instance, they will not personally attend a wedding and will instead send a gift. However, great leaders are able to become part of the personal lives of their followers. This makes the workers feel important. Once they feel important, they take ownership of their work and the organization as a whole and this contributes greatly to success of the organization. Although leaders are often busy, it is important that they make time to interact directly with their workers to appear close to the workers.
Many leaders also see their positions as positions where they are meant to be served rather than serve the people. Good leaders will recognize their primary role as providing direction for the people under them. Once a leader is able to realize this, they will be aware that their position requires them to serve the people under them. This is done by providing them with direction, guidance, resources, as well as the atmosphere required. When a leader is able to ensure this, they are more likely to influence their followers positively to perform their roles effectively, which is beneficial to the organization as a whole.
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