Differentiating Leadership and Management Roles in Business

This document explores the distinct roles of leaders and managers within a business organization. It defines and compares their characteristics, highlighting key differences in their approaches to vision, risk, change, and relationship building. The document also examines various leadership styles and the importance of both hard and soft management skills.

Business Management and Operations

Table of Contents
LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager.........................3
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager........3
Reference List............................................................................................................................9

LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
In a business organization, managers are continuously leading different teams in the
organization, while influencing the work areas and the improvement of workers’ efficiency
through continuous motivation and positive relationship building. Therefore, one can
significantly find the key leadership traits and skills within a successful manager, while
acting as a successful leader, thereby leading the organizational success. However, it is
important to distinguish between the key functions or roles played by a leader and a manager
in an organization (Bolman and Deal, 2014). It is because; understanding the difference
between the roles of leader and a manager would help the individual to further understand the
role that the manager is playing in organizational operations and management.
Defining management and leadership roles
The key function of a manager is to plan and monitor different processes, while ensuring that
these tasks are completed within the given deadline. The management function is embedded
in a systematic procedure, consisting some key steps, which are as follows:
 Planning
 Organizing
 Leading
 Controlling and evaluating
In contrast to a manager, the sole function of a leader is embedded in the responsibility of
motivating and leading individuals working for achieving a common goal (Renz and Herman,
2016). According to Mintzberg’s leadership roles, three key roles of a leader are
demonstrated below:
 Interpersonal roles
oLiasion
oLeadership
oFigurehead
 Informational roles
oMonitor

oDisseminator
oSpokesperson
 Decisional roles
oConflict resolution
oResource allocation
oNegotiator
Differences between the Roles of Management and Leadership
1. Leaders create a vision, managers create goals- Leaders continuously inspire the fellow
people to be engaged in a future picture that they have created and assumed to be possible,
thereby striving for turning the vision into reality. They focus upon high-functioning teams,
knowing that they can accomplish far beyond the capacity of individuals working in the
organization autonomously. On the other hand, managers focus upon organizational
objectives and organize the setting and measurements for the fellows to reach or exceed goals
(Long, 2017).
2. Leaders are unique; managers copy- Leaders are creative, continuously thriving for
exploring their creativity to develop their unique and personal brand. They have traits of
authentic, self-aware and transparent, while accepting change positively. On the other hand,
managers attempt to learn and copy the behavioural attributes and competencies from others,
while adopting leadership style, instead of defining it.
3. Leaders take risks, managers control risk- As demonstrated above, leaders are always
ready to take risk, in terms of continuous improvement and they can also accept failure
assertively, as they visualize failure as a step on the success path. On the other hand,
managers are continuously working for reducing risk and attempt to avoid procedures, which
may have risk to the organization.
4. Leaders are change agents; managers maintain the status quo- Innovation is the key to
success, for the leaders. Thus, instead of knowing that things are working effectively, they
strive for bringing change to make it in a better way. On the other hand, managers attempt to
stick to a point, where things are working properly, while refining the existing systems and
structures for gaining further improvement in processes (Bargau, 2015).

5. Leaders are in it for the long haul, managers think short-term- As discussed before,
leaders work on achieving visions, which they have portrayed for organizational success,
having a big goal. In order to do this, they empower the fellows continuously, while
motivating themselves to look forward to the vision. On the other hand, manager’s works on
focusing organizational objectives, by creating short-term goals, for gaining regular
acknowledgement as well as avoiding risks related to long-term goals.
6. Leaders build relationships; managers build systems and processes- One of the key
leadership trait is relationship building and teamwork, as they concentrates upon empowering
all the stakeholders, who would be responsible for accomplishing the vision developed by the
leader. They believe that trust and positive relationship building are key to deliver on their
promise. On the other hand, managers focus more on organizing systems and structures
required to achieve organizational goals, instead of building trustworthy relationship with
stakeholders.
7. Leaders grow personally; managers rely on existing, proven skills- Leaders strive for
continuous learning in order to discover new knowledge everyday to keep them up-to-date in
the ever changing market. On the other hand, managers do not strive for experiments for
discovering new knowledge, rather they seek to figure out the means through which they
could be successful and attempts to adopt proven behaviours and existing skills (Balon,
2014).
8. Leaders coach, managers direct- Leaders attempt to support fellows to deal with their
conflicts and influence them to gain the competent, so that they could build their self-
management skills further, while being optimistic about their potential. They promote
employees to do work on their own way and explore their creativity. In contrast, managers
guide the fellow employees to accomplish their goals through their directed way.
Differentiation of leadership and management by Kotter’s theory
John Paul Kotter has developed an approach in 1990, where he distinguished the functions of
leadership and management. The key function of management is to offer the order and
uniformity to the organizations; while the leadership is all about change and movement. He
believed that both management and leadership are important for the organizational success,
but the stakeholders must understand the difference between the functions of these two
domains. Management is about striving for organize and stability, whereas leadership is about

striving for adaptation and constructive change impartation (Northouse, 2018). Kotter
identified the following differences in these two functions.
Management Leadership
Offers order and consistency Offers change and movement
Planning and budget
 Allocating resources
 Developing agendas
 Setting time schedules
Developing direction
 Developing vision
 Clarifying wider picture
 Setting strategies to achieve it
Organizing and staffing
 Offering structures
 Creating job placements
 Developing rules and systems
Aligning people
 Communicating goals
 Seeking commitments
 Developing teams and alliance
Controlling and problem solving
 Arranging rewards
 Developing creative solutions
 Undertaking corrective actions
Motivating and Inspiring
 Inspiring and energizing
 Empowering and motivating fellows
 Meeting their needs
Differentiation of leadership and management by other theories
The difference within leadership and management can also be done with the help of theories.
Management theories Leadership theories
Classical theory- According to the classical
management theory, individual’s rational
behaviour is the basis of a manager’s
characteristic (Shafritz et al. 2015).
Classical theory- According to the classical
leadership theory, leadership is a human
behaviour, which cannot be developed; rather
leaders are born with these traits.
Behavioural theory- This theory depicts that
effective coalition among the team members
is the key to managerial success in the
organizational context. In order to ensure the
success of managerial roles in the
organization, managers must organize a set of
effective rules and regulations.
Situational leadership theory- This theory
depicts that leaders are born out of situations.
Based on the contexts they are working, their
competencies develop accordingly, thereby
developing an effective leader (Mwenda and
Wachira, 2015).

Different leadership styles
There are four key types of leadership styles, which the leaders adopt based on the situations
they are working, along with which the characteristics of the leaders varies accordingly.
Autocratic- This leadership style allows the leader to keep the power of decision making on
his own hand, instead of allowing fellows to participate in organizational decision making.
Democratic- Opposing to the autocratic leadership, the democratic leadership style
influences the leader to empower fellows to participate in organizational decision making,
while exploring their creative nature for their contribution (Balon, 2014).
Laissez-faire- Leaders accompanying this leadership style lacks direct supervision like the
autocrats, allows the fellow workers to participate in organizational decision making, but
hinders the exploration of their creativity.
Transactional- Leaders following this leadership style gain some tasks to perform and give
penalties or rewards to the fellow members on the basis of their performance aligning with
the pre-determined goals. In this context, the leaders have the power to review their
performance and train fellows accordingly, for meeting team goals (Long, 2017).
Transformational- In contrast to the transactional leadership style, the transformational
leaders thrives for change through developing an effective communication network within
management and employees. This network in one hand promotes productivity and high
visibility; whereas on the other hand, it promotes development of such a trustworthy
environment that fellow employees accept change easily.
According to the viewpoint of a consultant, two most appropriate leadership styles are
“participative leadership and transformational leadership styles”, as both of the styles are
highlighting the importance of communication and supporting employees as the core aspects
of organizational success (Northouse, 2018).
Analysis of Hard management and Soft management skills
Analyzing the managerial skills, it has been revealed that two types of skills are important,
hard and soft skills.

Hard skills- These skills are teachable and easy to quantify. The key examples include
“proficiency in diverse language, typing speed, computer programming, a degree or operating
a machine” (Long, 2017).
Soft skills- In contrast, soft skills are subjective, which are difficult to quantify. These skills
are highly important for interpersonal business interaction. The examples include
“communication, leadership, flexibility, motivation, patience, persuasion, teamwork, problem
solving, time management etc”.

Reference List
Balon, R., 2014. Leadership versus management. Academic Psychiatry, 38(6), pp.720-722.
Bargau, M.A., 2015. Leadership versus management. Romanian Economic and Business
Review, 10(2), p.197.
Bolman, L. and Deal, T., 2014. Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory
and Practice: A Handbook, p.245.
Long, A., 2017. Leadership and management. ABC of Clinical Leadership, p.5.
Mwenda, L.K.M. and Wachira, A.W., 2015. Effects of Leadership Styles on Implementation
of Organization Strategic Plans in Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Renz, D.O. and Herman, R.D. eds., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership
and management. John Wiley & Sons.
Shafritz, J.M., Ott, J.S. and Jang, Y.S., 2015. Classics of organization theory. Cengage
Learning.