Leadership: Understanding the Difference between Managers and Leaders

This essay critically evaluates the difference between managers and leaders in the context of organizational success. It explores the roles, skills, and characteristics of both and provides insights from peer-reviewed articles. The aim is to establish a clear understanding of the distinction between managers and leaders.

Leadership

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................12
Appendix 1...................................................................................................................................13
Appendix 2.....................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
One of the topics that have the widest of scope of discussion is the leadership and its
place in the management. Leadership is the main topic that has been chosen in order to
critically analyze the topic with the support of 10 peer reviewed articles. In this critical
evaluation of the topic we have tried to establish leadership as a position in
management which cannot be misunderstood with the job role of a manager.
Though not unknown terms to us, these are often misunderstood at different intervals
and we are interchangeably using it. In organization these two terms have different
roles to play and are complete contrast to each other. In terms of their contribution to
the organizational goal they do not stand binary to each other. Leadership and
management both are supposed to be contributing to each yet their roles in terms of
managing the employees’ looks quite contemporary to each other.
Here in this argumentative essay there shall be analyzing of different aspects of
management and leadership with the help of ten different peer reviewed articles from
different reliable journals. Sources, in a research, is the main ingredient based on which
we may arrive at a conclusion.
It is often assume that all managers are leaders. But that is not the case. Some of the
managers may not be able to be an effective leader. Management capability does not
relate to the capability of being good leaders. Leaders are able to influence the
employees in achieving the target while it is the manager who is going to decide which
task should be assigned to which employee based on their credentials.
The main aim of the essay is not to prove which of the position in an organization is
more important. The aim is to firmly establish the difference based on theories,
examples, research report and other sources of evidences.
Discussion
There are many scholars who are of the opinion that there is an overlapping between
the roles of leaders and managers. Some completely disagree. Amongst those who
agree, there are varied degrees of disagreement. EBSCO, Google Scholar, EMBASE
and other sources have evidences that clearly mark the difference between a leader
and a manager.
Through management an individual or a group of individual is able to exercising
direction on the employees or certain group of employees with the help of administrative
authority that has been conferred on the office as a result of division of work and
organizational hierarchy. In short, it can be said that the main task that come under the

corpus of managerial duties is that of assigning task, mentoring the employees who
have the potential to grow, resolving issues and conflicts that come the way. Other job
roles like planning, budgeting, coordinating with other departments all come under the
field of management (Andersen, 2016).
While yet another definition of management can be a process which is bought to action
in order to meet the organizational goal. This may involve use of resources that are
available to the organization.
Technical, human and conceptual skills are the three major areas of skills that are
required in order to manger to have a better managerial grip on the employees. Here
grip would not refer to the dominating attitude, but having an influence on the decision
making. Here the human skill refers to the ability of a manager to work with the
human/people that may include people outside the organization who are major
stakeholders. Conceptual skill here would refer to the ability of being innovating and
successfully incorporating new ideas to the working pattern of the organization. Next
would be the technical skill which is the proficiency that a manager has in the work that
is being carried out.
In a few word, thee prefect way to define leadership is that it is complex as well as
multidimensional phenomenon. It can be classified under various categories like skill,
style, ability to influence, a charismatic personality, a motivating agent. Kotter, one of
the well-known people in defining and redefining the concept of leadership has said that
leadership may be defined as the collective action to vitalize. Here the term vitalize
plays an important role and from the very word of it we can understand that leadership
is a position that has to be utilized in revitalizing and vitalizing the employees so that
they can archive the goal with a greater zeal and precision.
Two main areas of focus is that inspiration and motivation that a leader must be
concentrating on. The leaders have to take up the responsibility of achieving the long
term goals, define the common goals for the team and underline the challenges that
would occur in the way of achieving it. The researches and evidences also show that
there are few characteristics that have to be there for a successful leader. These may
include a stable decision making skill, a considerate mentality, a good speaker and may
be a good listener. There also has to be inclusion of some of the critical characteristics
that include risk taking, toughness, and communication and so on and so forth.
Leaders are sometimes more dynamic than manager owing to the different kinds of
theories and styles that are related to the leaders. To managers it is mostly the
organizational theories that are brought in practice.
Let us seen some of the leadership theories that have contributed to make the concept
of leadership much richer than it is perceived on the surface:

In short leadership theories can be called different schools of thoughts which goes on to
explain how a person become leader.
Great Man Theory
Great Man theory says that great leaders are born. The personality trait that they have
is not developed through practices but is inbuilt and certain people are fated to be great
leaders. This theory though holds relevance if we go on to see the history but with
globalization and increasing competitiveness there is lowering relevance of this theory
seen.
Great Man theory has had many disagreements. Garndy (2016) argues that there is
nothing definite about this theory and one cannot bring rely on history in understanding
leadership. Luck and faith plays little importance when we are talking about leadership
in association with organization.
Trait Theory
This theory says that leaders are made up of different characteristics. This theory
analyzes both successful characteristics and unsuccessful leaders and therefore we
can obtain points that help in building up a good leader.
Contingency Theory
This theory lays greater stress on the leadership style. Leadership styles are different
kinds of leadership practice. According to this theory no one leadership style can be
used at situation. There are many kinds of leadership styles that are needed to be used
by leaders so as to manage different situations (Seto,2016).
Situational Theory
According to situational theory, there are different situations that occur at organizations.
A leader has to analyze the situation and make sure that the best of decisions are taken
which would minimize the damage and minimize risk as well as increase the innovative
capacity of the organization. Here organization is mentioned in a frequent manner as
this is an organizational argumentative essay (Grandy 2016).
(Grandy 2016) says that this is by far the best kind of leadership theory that can
effectively be implemented in every situation. At the present situation this is the best
kind of leadership theory as the market is dynamic and so are the employees.
Behavioral Theory

Here the main emphasis is laid on the fact that a leader is the result of many of skills
learned and applied at different situations of crisis and innovations. As it has been
mentioned above:
Technical, human and conceptual skills are the three key areas of skills that are
prerequisite in order for a manger to have a superior decision-making grip on the
workforces.. Here the human skill refers to the capability of a manager to work with the
human/people that may consist of people outside the organization who are chief
stakeholders. Conceptual skill here would denote to the talent of being revolutionizing
and effectively integrating new ideas to the working configuration of the organization.
Next would be the technical skill which is the expertise that a manager has in the work
that is being carried out (Ghasabeh,2016).
Source: (Raymer 2018).
Leadership Styles
There are different leadership styles that are important to bring in the discussion:
Laissez-faire
In this kind of leadership style there is independence given to the employees and they
are allowed to do the work on their own.
Democratic Leadership

In this kind of leadership style there is feedback taken from the employees and they too
participate in the decision making.
Transformational Leadership Style
In this kind of leadership style there is motivation of employees or the followers and an
effort is laid in communicating with them.
Transactional leadership
In this kind of leadership style the focus is mostly laid on the performance. If we take
into consideration the case of chartered accounting firms then the main focus of the
leaders is to obtain maximum performance from the employees with the help of training,
contacts and of course motivation (Grandy 2016).
There are many more kinds of leadership style but these are the most well-known ones
and the ones that are practiced by most of the leaders. There is also autocratic style off
leadership which now has been reduced to a nonfunctional one as it eliminates the
ethical consideration of the welfare of the employees although, there are a few places
where this kind of leadership is practiced. This kind of situation is generally seen when
the job opportunity in the economy is quite low (Grandy 2016).
Though often overlapping, these are not identical and a comparison would bring out the
differences and the degree of overlapping in a better way. Leaders manage and
managers lead was written by Bernard Bass (1990) in the book by him called Bass and
Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership. One cannot also deny the fact that some of the
leaders do not really manage and the managers often fail to lead (Raymer 2018).
There are many scholars who are of the opinion that leaders are made of a soul that is
meant for inspiration which is topped with creativity and passion. On the other hand we
see that the manager is often authoritative, consulting and has a sense of analyzing the
degree of goal reaching ability of the set of employees.
Critically appraising the selected peer reviewed articles we realize that on the other
hand we see that managers manage and controls daily problems and also help in
implementing the vision that leaders have sought for the organization. Here the leaders
are designing visions that form the foundation of organization operations and activities.
A leader is in possession of a vision and a goal that he successfully has to ensure is put
to action via right direction. To get the vision and mission accomplished, the, managers
are engaged in usage of structural tools and designed organizational measures based
on different theoretical and practical evidences and models. Leaders are more involved
in getting the communication and interactive part of the organization right and make

sure that the ethical standards within the organization are maintained. One can argue
that this role of the leaders is a similar to human resource managers.
A leader is well aware of not only the professional strength of the employees but also
the emotional strength and this makes it easy for the leaders to better understand the
employees. At this point the job of the manager is to assign work based on the
professional expertise of the employees and work towards successful completion of the
assigned work (Raymer 2016).
The leaders are better communicators because they are in a close contact with the
followers. Whenever there is a change in the organization, it is the duty of the leaders to
make sure that the employees are comfortable in taking that as a favorable change and
go with it with a positive attitude. The leaders are going to train the employees in
providing training for the proposed change.
A similarity that can be brought out of the two job roles is that they are meant to
influence people in their own respective capacity. If situation requires, it also includes
controlling the people to the best of benefit of the organization. When it comes to
exercising the power, the managers use the influential powers that is formal in nature
while the leaders go on to become influencing agents through communication and
inspiration and different modes of motivation to align the followers in the direction that is
desired (Ford, 2018).
Many of the scholars are of the opinion that a person can function both as a leader and
a manager. As there are overlapping tendencies in the roles, the role can be played by
one person. There are many of the scholars who think that there are notable differences
in both the job roles and that it cannot be interchangeably used. There are marked
differences in function that are carried by both. While in small and medium sized
organizations the roles can be played by one person but that is not possible when we
talk about large organizations that it is important that both the roles are played by two
different entities.
The changes that are proposed by the leaders are well applied by the managers. Often
there are conflicts that occur between the two entities as the managers are reluctant to
implement new changes to preserve the stability of the organization. On the other, the
leaders are able to bring in new ideas and are usually enthusiastic about implementing
it. It is generally seen that the employees are more inclined towards the leaders as they
have a close tie with the employees than the managers who acts as the subjugating
body within the organization. Two main areas of emphasis is that motivation and
enthusiasm that a leader must be engaged in. The leaders have to take up the
obligation of accomplishing the long term goals, define the common goals for the team
and underline the challenges that would befall in the way of achieving it. The researches

and evidences also show that there are few characteristics that have to be there for a
successful leader.
These may comprise a stable choice making skill, a thoughtful mentality, a good talker
and may be a respectable listener. There also has to be presence of some of the
critical features that consist of risk taking, robustness, and communication and so on
and so forth (Dabke, 2016).
Here the main argument that has been developed is not who is better than who. The
discussion here that both the roles have their own importance and each is required in
order to ensure smooth functioning of the organization. Leaderships are important so
that the new changes in the market can be well absorbed by the organization. An
organization that does not encourage and welcome change shall not be able survive in
the fiercely competitive market. Due to low budget, often the organization has a
common person as both manager and leaders. If the number of employees are limited,
this shall not have any negative effect but with expansion and increasing size, it
becomes important that the job roles of a leader and managers are carried on by
different entities and departments.
The organization will be able to reach the optimum level of efficacy when there is a
good leadership that works in close association with the leaders as well as the
employees (Sudha, 2016).
It was Zalzenik who made a remarkable effort in laying out the difference between
managers and leaders. The transformational kind of leadership style is the visionary
personalities who have help the employees and organizations in getting the best of the
market situation (Seibert, 2016).
Transformational kind of leaders is able to recognize the needs of the employees even
though the followers themselves are not able to identify the needs. Leaders have a
deep understanding of the followers and they are able to observe the followers well
(Antonakis, 2017).
We see that managers are, on the other hand, more inclined in accelerating the
operations of the organization.
Are leaders more influential to employees?
The simple answer to this can be seen in Apple Inc. when Steve Jobs was running it as
CEO. He, with his autocratic as well as democratic leadership had made Apple a
success that is considered to be seen very rare. At this point one cannot argue that the
role that Steve Jobs had played was more of a managers and less of a leader. It is
through leadership that Apple Inc. could develop the revolutionary product, iPhone.

After Steve Jobs was removed from the board to work in NEXT and Pixel, Apple Inc.
had to suffer the loss of a great leaders, avoid that could not be filled by managers. The
rest is history after Steve Jobs rejoined Apple Inc.
If we try to develop an argument about who is, fundamentally, more important to the
employees-a leader or a manager then the answer here would be leaders and there are
many sources that go on to express the same view.
The leaders are able to influence the employees in a way that is difficult for the
managers. The leaders are enthusiastic that is reflected on their behavior and training
method that they use in getting the workforce ready. The leaders expect the employees
or the followers to feel that same enthusiasms in accomplishing the work and getting
nearer to the goal.
Idea is the base of functioning of the corporate world and it is due to the ideas that there
are a number of new brands that keep coming up. This idea is very much influenced
molded and remolded by leaders. It is leaders who help in making the employees adapt
to the idea and work over that in order to get the goal. The goal is defined by the
leaders. The leaders work on ideas and convert them in goals and it is on these
prepared guidelines that the managers successfully work, coordinate, schedule and
chalk out the duties. Here one can say that the role of manager is that of an employee
who is at a higher position and is able to manage the work based on greater experience
and managing capability that is acquired over a period of time.
Leadership and change Management
Change is an important factor and for organizations it is not easy to change the pattern
of their operation. Atkinson has argued that without the leadership it is not possible to
bring change as there shall be no one to motivate the management for the change.
Leadership plays an important role in organizational culture. When there is trust
between the employees and organization there is preservation of a positive
organizational culture (Hao and Yazdanifard 2015).
Problems faced by Leadership
Most of the scholars come to a conclusion that there are issues that leadership has to
go through. Whereas Hao and Yazdanifard (2015) say that organisational culture is
positively preserved with the help of motivation, Antonakis (2017) argues that there are
many issues that are faced by the leadership. Developing the effectiveness of
managerial skills, leading a team, maintaining the spirit of the team, guiding change,
office politics

Source: (Antonakis, 2017).

Conclusion
The leaders and managers form integral parts of the corporate world and both have a
dynamic role to play at their own level and capacity. In this assignment the effort has
been laid in making difference between leaders’ and managers. Whereas both are
important in terms of organization and business, the essay comes to a conclusion that
in terms of influence, it is leaders who are acceptable to the employees than the
managers. There are situations where managers are repelling to the employees but
leaders are someone they look up to. The main aim of the essay is not to prove which of
the position in an organization is more important. The aim is to firmly establish the
difference based on theories,
examples, research report and other sources of evidences. With the help of dependable
peer reviewed articles, we have come to the decision that leaders and employees have
a more intimate bonding than what is shared between managers and workforces.
Managers and employees time and again become binary to each other. But this is not
seen in leaders and followers. Leaders make a charismatic influence on the worker.

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Appendix
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