Leading vs. Managing: Top Differences | Emeritus India
If you think about your day carefully, you will realize that you go back and forth between leading and managing throughout the day. Leadership and management are often intertwined in modern organisations. Almost everyone in leadership roles is also responsible for managing people, projects, and functions. Let’s explore the fundamental differences between leadership and management.
Primary Goal of Leadership: Producing Change and Growth
Leaders always envision a better tomorrow and focus on design changes that will improve organisational processes. It is all about taking an organisation from what it is presently to something far superior in the future.
Leadership has the following characteristics:
Strategic and Visionary
Visionary leaders ensure that what they envision is turning into reality. They clearly state their goals to ensure that a strategic plan can be developed for achieving these goals. Leadership empowers individuals to take actions that will help fulfil goals at the individual, team, and organisationallevels.
Future-oriented
Leadership requires you to have a future outlook. They focus on developing strategies and aiding change to build the organisation of tomorrow.
Broad and External Focus
Leaders always need to maintain an extensive focus. They often need to look after external functions and focus on the industry as a whole. The scope of leaders is more extensive because they often need to address national and global matters.
Using New Processes
Leadership needs to focus on developing new processes to build an organisation of tomorrow. They are often responsible for initiating changes and implementing them properly throughout the organisation.
Future Planning and Long-Term Vision
Leaders are responsible for planning the future of an organisation and ensuring that their long-term vision gets transformed into reality. They have to focus on bringing around change that will fuel the growth of an organisation.
Strategizing
Leadership positions demand emotional intelligence and people skills. It helps with the development of strategies that can help an organisation find success.
Primary Goal of Management: Producing Order and Consistency
Managers focus on developing a stable work environment with clarity and consistency. It ensures that employees can be highly productive and deliver their best at the organisation.
You should develop your approach to managing by incorporating the following factors:
Tactical and Hands-on
Managers always need a tactical approach so that they are able to select appropriate methods for fulfilling a strategic objective. A hands-on approach enables managers to respond to real-world issues quickly.
Here and Now
Managers always need to look at the here and now. They focus on short-term and mid-range goals that guarantee the success of the organisation in the present time.
Narrow and Internal Focus
Managers maintain a narrow and internal focus. They only need to focus on the internal operations of an organisation. They usually need to ensure that all operations inside an organisation are running smoothly.
Using current resources and structures
Managing involves relying upon current resources and structures to aid organisational growth.
Directing Daily Work to Achieve Goals
Management revolves around ensuring that individuals are able to complete their daily operations. As employees fulfill individual responsibilities, the currently-identified goals of an organisation can be met.
Meetings, Delegation, and Coaching
Managers also need people skills like leaders. But managers are primarily responsible for making individuals complete their daily tasks with ease. They need to hold meetings, delegate responsibilities, and coach employees on how to fulfill certain organisational activities.
Top 4 Qualities of a Good Manager and Leader
If you want to become a good manager or leader, you should focus on developing these qualities:
Deal with Conflicts
Conflicts can easily arise at different levels of an organisation. Leaders and managers don’t avoid conflicts. Instead, they try dealing with them to ensure that they don’t escalate into something bigger. You might be tempted to turn a deaf ear to these problems. But avoiding them for too long can lead to interpersonal issues.
Accept That You Have a Lot to Learn
Once you get into a leadership or managerial position, you might think that you have learned everything. But true leaders and managers always keep an open mind and remain prepared to learn new things. When you keep a positive attitude toward learning, you will witness professional and personal development in your life.
Be Decisive
Leaders and managers are often responsible for important decisions. Any individual working in such positions must have the ability to make fast decisions. But leaders and managers also need to be aware of the consequences of their decisions.
Have Proper Listening Skills
You need to have active listening skills to become a good leader or manager. Most of us think about what to reply to while listening to others. But good leaders and managers listen attentively. They listen to the whole thing before trying to find the perfect reply.
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