Leaders and Managers: The Difference

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Outline

This paper examines the traits that differentiate leaders from managers with a view to identify the three most important traits that differentiate leaders from managers.

To do that, the paper employs classical methodology for arriving at the conclusion, i.e. by carrying out a literature review of the differences between leaders and managers, then discussing a few examples of good leadership to further identify the important traits and lastly providing an analysis of the three most important traits identified through the literature review and description of examples of good leadership.

In the literature review most of the traits and requirements of a leader and a manager are discussed. The paper takes help of domain experts in defining what the essential differences between leaders and managers are. This process helps build up a list of traits that define and differentiate a leader and a manager.

The paper then discusses a few examples of good leadership to further home on to the essential traits that most importantly define a leader. This makes it easy to filter out the three most essential traits in the next segment of the paper.

Having discussed traits at a broad spectrum, narrowing the scope to identifying key leadership traits through examples, the paper then identifies the three most important traits that differentiate leaders from managers being:

Having visionary ability;
Having an ability to inspire;
Having courage and conviction.

The modern environment has a greater degree of uncertainty than certainty. Rapid advancements in information technologies, increasing competition from developing countries mean that the level of certainty of achieving organizational goals has reduced. To succeed in an environment of uncertainty, any corporate, business or governmental entity requires strong leadership and managerial expertise to succeed. Leaders and managers are both required for an organization to grow. Leaders and managers have many common qualities and traits. However, there are some traits that are especially essential in a leader that may not be absolutely necessary for a manager to possess. This paper examines the traits that differentiate leaders from managers with a view to identify the three most important traits that differentiate leaders from managers.

Literature Review: Difference between Leaders and Managers

Management includes planning, organizing, leading and controlling. So while a manager has to lead also, his scope of leadership is more accentuated towards the functional aspects of running the organization. A leader has to inspire his subordinates (Zenger & Folkman, 2002, p. 7) to work harder while the manager has to ensure sustenance of that inspiration by looking after the pecuniary benefits of the subordinates. Leaders need to be visionary; managers need not have visionary capability but must have the ability to implement the vision (Slater, 2003, p. 35) into practical motion. Leadership involves a certain level of abstraction and tolerance for ambiguity. Managerial capabilities require more formalized operational level control and a more definitive thought process. Leadership operates across the strategic, operational and tactical levels. Managers are more focused on the operational and tactical levels. Leaders often need to focus on intangibles that govern human affairs such as morale, inspiration, motivation, spiritual guidance; managers operate mostly in the tangible regimes guided by profit-loss and bottom lines. Since leaders are required to inspire people, they definitely require a greater repertoire of human skills such as oratory (Blumen-Lipman, 2000, p. 208), amiable social and interpersonal skills. Managers on the other hand do not require these in the same measure. A manager can well be dour, business like, harsh and rude and yet be effective in meeting his deadlines. Leaders tend to use non-formalized imaginative and innovative thinking to solve problems. Managers tend to use formal problem solving methods based on reasoning and testing. Leaders spend more time listening and interacting with people to develop their vision for their organization. Managers do not have the time to listen and thus are not required to develop such a trait since their job profile requires them to act and produce tangible results.

Personal Charisma adds to a leader’s value (Blumen-Lipman, p. 30). Charismatic leadership inspires people in far larger numbers than does other forms of leadership because charisma is more human and personal. A manager need not have charisma to succeed. Having a personal charisma and ability to inspire is however not enough for a leader who must back these personal traits with sound planning, organizing and controlling ability. A leader must have the ability to inspire, persuade, influence and motivate. Persuasion is an art. A leader achieves his objectives by convincing people voluntarily through his oratorical and human skills to come around to his viewpoint and why his viewpoint is essential for the growth of the organization. A manager can persuade people simply through coercion, or ‘laying down the company policy’. While the manager may achieve the same end result, it is the leader whose end result is achieved through voluntary agreement by the subordinates and not by coercion. Chhokar et al. (2007) have listed 16 differences between managers and leaders (p. 793), the thrust being the requirement for visionary, humane aspects of interpersonal interaction for the leader versus the more practical, pragmatic and direct traits of interpersonal interaction required by the manager. Hickman (1992) points out to the difference in psychological orientation between a leader and a manager with the leader more attuned to culture, opportunity, vision, correlation, problems, customers, partner, sweeping assessments and focusing on strengths while the manager’s orientation focuses on pragmatic strategy, dangers, implementable version of the vision, isolation of problems, solutions, markets, rivals, incremental assessments and weaknesses (Hickman, p. 8). Managers think about authority, leaders believe in influence. Managers prefer uniformity in their work force processes to get the end results. Leaders think about creating unity amongst the workforce for larger ideals of the organization. Managers focus on policies and implementation of those policies and use control methodologies to achieve the end results. Leaders believe in setting examples and focusing on the people and use empowering strategies to achieve end results.

Examples of Good Leadership

In the corporate world, Lee Iacocca stands out as an outstanding leader for his astounding feat in rescuing Chrysler from bankruptcy in the late 1970s to the early 80s. Iacocca literally built back Chrysler from basics and along the way he had to take tough decisions, rationalize his workforce, negotiate with the Congress for a loan and most importantly persevere with his vision. Ability to think ‘out of the box’, selling models such as the ‘minivan’ put Chrysler back on the world’s Automap. Iacocca’s list of leadership traits includes curiosity, creativity, communication, character, courage, conviction, charisma, competence and common sense (Iacocca & Whitney, 2007, p. 261).

Amongst military leaders perhaps none have achieved greater heights than General Douglas McArthur. He was the only officer to have fought World War I, World War II and the Korean War. McArthur rose on to become the General of the Army. During the Second World War, the tenacity and resolve displayed by McArthur on retreating from Philippines in face of Japanese onslaught promising that he would return (Imaparato, 2000, p. 124) and indeed doing so is legendary. To gain back the command of the Pacific, McArthur embarked on an ‘island hopping’ strategy that aimed at leapfrogging strongly held Japanese islands and capturing strategic outposts to cut the Japanese lines of communications. The island hopping strategy worked brilliantly and led to the surrender by Japan in the Second World War. As Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Japan, McArthur displayed leadership of the highest order by having the vision, perseverance and magnanimity to protect the Japanese Emperor Hirohito and yet lay the foundations of democracy in an overtly militaristic society. McArthur’s brilliance, innovative mind and dogged perseverance saw the successful surprise landing at Inchon in the Korean War against vehement opposition by the US Navy who considered the plan as impossible and disastrous.

Amongst political leaders perhaps Charles De Gaulle stands out as a shining example. Charles de Gaulle was the President of France from 1958 to 1968. During his tenure as the President, de Gaulle transformed a country, which had a shattered economy, fractious political establishment and a dependency on American aid into a first rate power with its own standing in the comity of nations. After the war, the French political establishment was in turmoil, with no clear direction, goals or structure. De Gaulle rightly concluded that if he was to lead France, it would be done legally, through constitutional means. The patience that he displayed bore fruit, when in 1958; the people of France and the political elite accepted him as the President with sweeping executive powers. With great courage and conviction, de Gaulle embarked on a mission to empower France. His vision, administrative efficiency and energy led to a slew of reforms. Firstly, he declared that France would follow an independent foreign policy. He used the European Economic Community (EEC) to further French agricultural interests and quickly brought the French economy back on track. In 1966, de Gaulle announced the complete withdrawal of France from the NATO, thus ensuring an independent role for France in World Affairs (Wilsford, 1995, p. 84). A good leader must not only possess good judgment and deliver sound decisions; he must also monitor the results of those decisions. De Gaulle did that by personally touring every part of the country and checking with the grassroots organizations, the progress of work. So great was his charisma that in the 1965 election, the people of France overwhelmingly voted him to continue as the French president. De Gaulle also showed great humility in accepting his defeat in the 1969 referendum, retiring to his home gracefully.

Three Most Important Traits that Differentiate Leaders from Managers

Analysis of the literature review and examples of good leadership reveal that the three important traits that greatly differentiate leaders from managers are; 1) Having visionary ability; 2) Having an ability to inspire; 3) Having courage and conviction. Having a vision and having the ability to lay down a vision is a leadership trait that is crucial for a leader to possess. Without a vision, no organization can grow. A manager can do without having visionary ability, he just needs it implement the vision set before him for the organization to be successful. Ability to inspire requires human qualities that catalyses subordinate to put in their utmost for the organization voluntarily. An ability to inspire can bring about a process of self actualization amongst the subordinate. A leader needs to possess this trait to be successful. A manager need not have the skills to inspire, he can as well get work done based on ‘company policy’, ‘processes’, ‘rules’ and coercion. The third most important trait that sets apart a leader from a manager is the need for having courage and conviction. The leaders’ courage and conviction to take difficult and risky decision, to persevere through bad times to ensure that his vision for the organization does not crumble and having others to have belief in his courage and conviction is what sets apart a leader from a manager. A manager can well carry on efficiently by adhering to the due processes of the business and yet be successful.

In conclusion it can be reiterated that though many traits are common to leaders and managers, some traits are required in greater substance by the leader than a manager. That is not to say that leaders cannot be good managers or that managers cannot be leaders. This paper is not a litany against the manager or that a manager has negative connotations when compared to a leader but to stress that the qualitative and quantitative requirements of certain human traits for a leader and a manager differ. The paper has identified that the need to be visionary, having the ability to inspire and possessing courage and conviction being the three most important traits that a leader must possess as compared to a manager.

Works Cited

Blumen-Lipman, J. (2000). Connective Leadership: Managing in a Changing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. C., House, R. J., & Program, G. L. (2007). Culture and leadership, across the world: the GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. NY: Routledge.

Hickman, C. R. (1992). Mind of a Manager, Soul of a Leader. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Iacocca, L. A., & Whitney, C. (2007). Where Have All the Leaders Gone? NY: Scribner.

Imaparato, E. T. (2000). General MacArthur Speeches and Reports 1908-1964. Nashville: Turner Publishing Company.

Slater, R. (2003). Jack Welch and the GE Way. NY: Tata McGraw-Hill.

Wilsford, D. (1995). Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: a Biographical Dictionary. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Zenger, J. H., & Folkman, J. (2002). The extraordinary leader: turning good managers into great leaders. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.

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Leaders and Managers: The Difference

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