The Fundamental Differences between Leadership and Management

If we look at the fundamental differences between leadership and management, we need to understand the way these words have come up. Leadership is mainly about leading people or having followers to guide. Management is mainly about having people who work for you, as a team. Does that mean that a leader does not manage and a manager does not lead? No, that is not true. But, there are still some distinct differences that we need to be aware of. Our leadership courses  can help us understand this better. Here are some of the basic ones to get an idea. 

1.       Leadership is a skill or attribute, management is a task – Leadership is a skill or an attribute to influence people around you and even in your teams that can be acquired or might even be inherent for some individuals. Management is more akin to being a responsibility or activity at work. It is more linked to getting work done, whereas leadership is more aligned to opening up minds. So leadership is focused on inspiring others, whereas management is focused on tracking that the work tasks are done.

2.       Leadership has long term impact, management has a shorter term one – The time horizon for leadership and its impact is much wider and longer. It impacts at a personal and professional level. It also has the power to engage an individual in a manner that he or she can transform themselves. Management on the other hand, spans a short term when it comes to impact. Its focus is to ensure effectiveness and productivity, not transformation. 

3.       Leadership disrupts, management sustains – Leadership means that you need to push people out of their comfort zones so that they gain the courage to exceed their potential. That itself is a form of disruption and change that needs to occur. Management means, you need to form a stable environment that allows people to perform and deliver. So its role is more to sustain the environment at a certain level. 

One another major difference is that leadership is more proactive, given that it has a future-focused approach and looks at the organization from a far-sighted lens. Management is more reactive, because getting things done essentially involves a lot of crisis management, fire-fighting and conflict resolution. There can be many other differences as well, but fundamentally, these are the biggest ones.