Leadership and Management

This Article is given by me and would come in the April-2011 Edition of 'Horizons' under the  head 'Management Quotient' in A2Z Group.

As I sit down to write this Edition’s Management Quotient, I want to produce something that is exciting and something that is not complicated. So I ask for a Coffee from the Pantry in the Ground Floor and expect it to invigorate me, so that my creative Juices come out from a certain corner in my brain.

But does it work?  Let’s see.

Something Exciting can be, Management or Leadership. Are they different? They seem to be the same. But they also seem to be bookish and complicated. So let me not go nuts over them but still understand the difference between the two. So, Let’s Google them. The Results are as under:

I searched for Definitions and got these results:

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”.

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively.

They seem pretty much the same and I have confusion between them, thus I keep googling.

Then other page said ‘Over the years the philosophical terminology of "management" and "leadership", in the organizational context, have been used both as synonyms and with clear differentiated meanings’.

Another page said ‘Managing and leading are two different ways of organizing people. The manager uses a formal, rational method whilst the leader uses passion and stirs emotions.’

I noted some difference but then I need to understand it clearly so I looked for some quotes from well known personalities and management thinkers and I got these good ones:

‘The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.’
By Henry A. Kissinger
and

Management is responsibility for the performance of a group of people. It’s a simple idea, yet putting it into practice is difficult, because management is defined by responsibility but done by exerting influence. To influence others you must make a difference not only in what they do but also in the thoughts and feelings that drive their actions.

By Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback (Harvard Business Review)

Then somewhere I got this:

"Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment...strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse. The real challenge is to combine strong leadership and strong management and use each to balance the other." — John Kotter, Management/Leadership Author and Professor of Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School

That makes it clear but more light was thrown on the same idea by the following:

In a nutshell, the difference between leadership and management is:

Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction.

Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established.

Leadership without Management

...sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is going to be achieved. Other people then have to work hard in the trail that is left behind, picking up the pieces and making it work.

Management without Leadership

...controls resources to maintain the status quo or ensure things happen according to already-established plans. Eg: a referee manages a sports game, but does not usually provide "leadership" because there is no new change, no new direction - the referee is controlling resources to ensure that the laws of the game are followed and status quo is maintained.

Leadership combined with Management

...does both - it both sets a new direction and manages the resources to achieve it. Eg: a newly elected president or prime minister.

Leadership and Management Summary

Leadership is about setting a new direction for a group; management is about directing and controlling according to established principles.

My Creative Juices are limited to the space provided, but not yours. I await your comments, arguments and views on this Topic. Write to me at nitin.sharma@gmail.com.