5 Key Differences Between Leaders And Managers

Behind the success of any organization there are a variety of people out of which leaders and managers play an important role. Usually many firms make the mistake of thinking both these roles to be same when they are actually not.  People generally assume the managers to be the leaders and the leaders to be the managers but there is a huge difference between both these profiles.

Despite the fact that both leadership and management are interchangeable, both these concepts are entirely different.  No doubt in both the cases it is required to have those managerial and leadership skills equally but to become a leader or a manager completely, one has to understand the basic difference between both of these.

Although, leadership and management are often misunderstood but they are not mutually exclusive.  So, here are those 5 key differences between leaders and managers which can help you in forming a successful organization:

• The leader is an innovator and the manager is an administrator: A person who leads is someone who is full of new ideas and believes in experimenting and creating new things. A leader always works on taking the organization into forward thinking phase by keeping his eyes on the horizon and keep himself updated about the latest trends, studies and skill sets.  Whereas, the manager is someone who is already established and is responsible for every organizational activity from top to bottom. He is the main control of the firm.

• The leader ensures trust and results whereas the manager represents control and authority: A leader has to be someone who can be the inspiration for others, on whom the team can show its trust and confidence.  He has to be the one who can appropriately set the tempo and pace of his group.  As for the managers they are responsible for maintaining law and order. They help people in developing their assets and bring out their best talents, for fulfilling their own mission.

• A leader asks questions about what and why, a manager questions in how and when: If anything goes wrong or if it is not done up to the expectation of the company then it will be the leader who will ask the question in what and why as he has to answer the higher authorities. On the other hand, a manager is the one who will ask for the reasons as his job is to keep his vision on the company’s goals and objectives. For more info on this, we recommend to read the reinventing management article published by European Business Review.

• Leaders give solutions while the managers create strategies: A leader will simply look at the problems and will devise new solutions to bring out the better by motivating his co-workers whereas the manager will create policies and teams for smooth functioning of the organization. He will empower people by listening to their views, values and principles.

• Leaders make followers and the managers look for subordinates: The working of the leader reflects from the number of true followers he has. This shows his way of working and the level of trust his team has on him. On the contrary, manager is the one who has subordinates, formal authority and the position. He works in an autocratic, consultative and democratic way.

Hence, these are those major differences which set apart both these roles and contribute separately in the success of an organization.