Management and leadership are equally vital to any organization. The lack of either leadership or management in a firm will affect its progress. It is vital to note that the two not only complement each other, but vary from each other. Management is an acquired skill, whereas leadership is inborn. It is not possible for one to attain leadership techniques in the course of life, but one can learn management skills through study and experience. Most managers have spent the better part of their lives training to be mangers, thus making it a profession. For leaders, it is different as the training does not necessarily make someone an excellent leader. Skills are learnt and developed in order to perfect their art of control; managers have to update themselves regularly with the new and emerging practices unlike leaders whose art remains the same. According to Wallace and Paulson (2003), continued leaning is a way of advancing and bettering management skills.
A good leader if the one who is charismatic and can attract followers, while an effective manager is the one who exhibits a sense of direction. The leader will guide by example and must be able to attract followers. On the other hand, the manager’s role is to assign responsibilities and follow up to ensure that the employees carry out duties on time. A manager tends to be more strategic and tactical in carrying out his duties while a leader is detail-oriented. The leader must relate well with those doing the job so as to ensure that pertinent details are considered. There is no perfection when it comes to leadership as opposed to management where it is guided by set principles (Meyer, 2008).
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The job of the two also varies, the manager’s main role is to plan, organize and coordinate activities. The manager focuses on how and when the company’s activities take place and the person responsible for executing the duties. Leadership focuses on the reasons why an activity is taking place and what the domino effect of the activity will be. Management aims at completing the assigned duties. Leadership, on the other side, tries to look at the reasons why an activity is taking place and what the outcome will be. Depending on the possible outcome, the leader will give a way ahead. According to Dean (2010), a good manager is the one who assigns duties efficiently.
Leadership is people–based, while management is job-based. Leadership looks at the welfare of the staff and their motivation. Since a leader is a role model for others, he ought to ensure they get the best out of their job. Managers have subordinates, and it is their duty to ensure that all the activities of the firm occur by assigning duties to subordinates. The managers earn income after ensuring the employees achieve all the targets, while a leader derives joy from seeing those under him prosper and lead comfortable life. The two have different goals in their governorship approach. A good leader motivates, directs and gives proper guidance to those below his rank (Moorhead and griffins, 2009).
Management’s main goal is to achieve the firm’s objectives within the set time. This is a short-term goal, considering that the organization should be a going concern. To achieve goals, most mangers work using targets. On the other hand, leadership envisions a greater future for the firm years down the line. This makes the approach different while the management team will look at the ability of staff meet their desired goal; leadership considers the potential of someone or an activity in contributing to the future development of the organization. Management will only look at the current situation, while leadership will envision the future and predict what will be necessary at that moment. A good leader inspires people to look beyond where they are and motivates them to move forward (Knight, 2012).
In conclusion, for effective results, it is crucial for managers to have both leadership qualities and management skills. This will balance the job so that it does not lay too much emphasis on completion while ignoring the general welfare of those doing the job. Workers are likely to leave organizations whose mangers do not have leadership qualities (Dr. White and Tate, 2005).