The Importance of Leadership
“For a company to achieve the desired result, it’s culture what people think and do must be aligned with the result.”
-Roger Connors, Author of The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual And Organizational Accountability
I recently read an article that workers no longer want to be managed. Employees demand leadership.
Leaders and managers are different. By definition, a manager works within a system to maintain existing goals and direction. They use people and equipment to meet a goal or they use a process to produce results.
A leader by contrast, sets the direction for projects. They bring vision to reality by gaining commitment from the people in the organization.
Managers Leaders
• Work within the existing culture
• Maintain existing relationships
• Plan and budget
• Organize and staff
• Control and problem solve • Create visions and excitement
• Set a direction
• Align people
• Build new relationships and structure
• Motivate and inspire
While individuals might have a talent towards one versus the other, leadership and management are not mutually exclusive great leaders can be great managers and vise versa. Obviously, there is tremendous advantage for someone who possesses both leadership and management skills to achieve great things.
This by no means implies that management is an easy task. Mastering the skills necessary to be an effective and efficient manager can take many years.
Successful organizations need both managers and leaders. Management activities are critical to any business. Most often, management is providing the “what” that needs to be done in the daily operation. Leadership provides the “how” those management activities get accomplished. Companies should have the “what” and “how” aligned for optimum results.
For example, when senior management shares the company vision with the workforce, they understand their role in the overall picture....