Leadership and management critical thinking

Leadership and management do not mean the same thing. The difference between managers and leaders is on the basis of the roles they play in the organization and how they perform them. Management involves planning, organizing and coordinating activities to achieve organizational goals whereas leadership involves motivating and inspiring employees to achieve organization goals. Managers rely on positional power, that is, their status and authority to discharge their role. Leaders on the other hand rely on their personal power which comes from their ability to develop mutual relationship with employees. Leadership depends upon positive personal characteristics, good interpersonal skills and supportive behavior[ CITATION Tri08 l 1033 ].
Managers have short and medium range view; they are therefore responsible for preparing budgets and plans for day to day running of the organization. Leaders on the other hand have a long range view of the organization and therefore create strategy and vision. Managers generally control and direct staff whereas leaders act as facilitators and coaches, allowing room for employees to grow in the process. Leaders are often associated with innovation and developing new ideas whereas managers imitate and maintain the status quo. Managers are focused on ensuring efficiency of the organization’s operations while the focus of leaders is on people [ CITATION Sin06 l 1033 ].
Managers exhibit conformity to status quo, emotional distance with employees, expert mind, talking and insight into the organization. On the other hand leaders exhibit non-conformity, emotional connectedness with employees, open mind, listening and insight into personal qualities. Although they play different roles, leaders and managers complement each other and must go hand in hand for any organization to be successful. Successful companies are characterized by strong managers and strong leaders. A business can therefore not succeed in instances where it has good leaders and bad managers or it has bad leaders and good managers.

Works Cited

Singh, Kavita. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases. illustrated. New Delhi: Pearson Education India, 2006.
Tripathi, Steven. Principles Of Management. illustrated. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2008.