In most of our articles, we talk about leaders but also about managers. The two roles are based on concepts that are often confused, even if they are distinct. This is why we believe it is essential to explain what role plays each of them in the equation of business related to the employees of an organization.
Leadership and management are two activities that must go hand in hand, but that differentiate through their impact on an organization’s employees. The main difference between the two is the one related to the way managers and leaders motivate employees and teams to achieve their goals.
On one hand, the leaders are the ones who set goals and new directions, they are the visionary ones and those who should guide the team. Leaders must motivate and guide employees, to help them achieve the business goals of the organization. On the other hand, managers are the ones who need to keep the smooth running of an organization, to ensure that everything goes according to the established standards. They are the ones who manage and organize the employees so that they will be able to perform their tasks.
Leadership – vision, motivation, and support
So, leadership focuses on achieving the objectives and providing motivation to the team to perform the tasks. It involves channeling all efforts to achieve what is best from each employee for the benefit of the whole team and its success. The leader is the one who must lead the team to succeed through personal example by encouraging and by creating an environment favorable to meeting the targets.
A leader must have a vision, he must think ahead, to act at the level of motivation and inspire employees, encouraging and transferring them from his enthusiasm. Also, he must be persuasive and show team spirit, encourage and appreciate when team members undertake or endeavor to perform better. A good leader should encourage the creation of bonds of collegiality between team members and ensure that the team is united.
Also, a good leader is one who can listen, who can reach easily to the causes a problem, provide advice and ensure that each team member is sufficiently motivated and has all the things necessary to do his work properly. The leader is the one who must ensure that employees learn and grow steadily, and the one who must guide them towards the fulfillment of professional goals by providing them support.
Management – coordination, administration and decision
Management focuses more on the work and responsibilities. He works with all that involves resources, be it human resources, represented by employees, time, money, equipment or any other element necessary for performing work tasks. So, unlike the leader, the manager assigns resources, and tasks to meet business objectives.
The manager is the one who manages the department or project budgets, organizes and estimates which will be the resources that will be offered to support the employees. He also has to make sure that the quality standards necessary for the work to be delivered are achieved according to the objectives. The manager is the one who ensures the coordination of tasks and the efficient distribution of the available resources.
Also, a manager is the one who ensures that the tasks are completed on time, and that deadlines are respected. The manager is the one who must take decisions, sometimes within a short time, and to ensure that any problem is solved.
These are broadly the differences between management and leadership, and one of the things that make them being often confused is the fact that a manager is also the leader sometimes and vice versa.
BIA HR TEAM