A leader and a manager’s duties may overlap. Usually, one makes the assertion that the two roles are coterminous and that the people holding the two positions are similar. Indeed, this assertion is given credence by the fact that these two roles in many organizations are often played by the same persons or group of persons. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The two are distinct institutions that fall within the same province in many organizations.
While a manager is an executor and implementer of policies and decisions, a leader is the formulator and decision maker in the organization. Additionally, while many managers merely see to it that terms and conditions are complied with, leaders are often charged with the responsibility of laying the terms. The two roles though complimentary, are not necessarily the same. In addition, leaders often have the added responsibility of persuasion and to charismatically show direction. The manager, on the other hand, merely exploits his oversight authority and power to see the implementation of activities. From the onset, therefore, it should be noted that leadership resonates around guiding while management resonates around overseeing.
It is better to be a great leader than a great manager. This is because while management utilises the power and authority vested in them and exercised on behalf of actual owners, leaders usually have inherent power accruing from their personalities and own abilities. They own the authority and are accountable to themselves. The manager, on the other hand, would be accountable to the actual owner of authority who vests the power on them.
One may seek for evidence in support of these assertions. We do not need to look far. For instance, take the operations in companies. The management merely exist to implement policies and strategies usually decided by two groups of leaders. That is, the shareholders and the board of directors. Management only play a stewardship role that necessarily implement and oversee the execution of policies decided upon by the actual leaders the board of directors. And to show that the management exercise the authority and power on behalf of their actual leaders, they (management) have to account to the board of directors through elaborate structures like statements of accounts and financial reports. The board of directors, however, are accountable to no one and usually take the blame or the credit for the decisions outcomes.
Those of a contrary opinion may claim that managers are preferable for the reason that they are action rather than merely decision based. Further, the fact that managers see the implementation of decisions and policies might make some lay claim that they ought to be preferred. However, these people ought to appreciate one thing. That is, the fact that decision making is more important that decision implementation. Decision making lays the fulcrum of either failure or success. Regardless of how a poor decision is implemented, it would probably fail. However, a good decision would give an organization the head start for success and presents high chances for success. Finally, there is a significant need to appreciate that leaders ordinarily derive their powers and authorities from their personalities. Most leaders are charismatic and engaging as well as people oriented. On the other hand, managers are often obsessed with results and are merely overseers and implementers of decisions and policies.
References
Watkins, M. D. (2012, June). How Managers Become Leaders. Havard Business Review, 34.
Zaleznik, A. (2010). Managers and Leaders: Are they different? Havard Business Review, 1-6.
