Management and Leadership

Management and Leadership Paper

The difference of management and leadership is a question that is being discussed more and more in today’s corporate environment. Different views and roles in a business, both share a common bond in the corporate structure. The key distinction between is the way they impact the corporate structure. Persons in a leadership role, set strategic goals for the company; while management implements these goals and aids them to fruition. Strategic goals are defined as broad statements that the organization ultimately wants to achieve with their vision and mission. These goals are typically long-term objectives that may take ten years or longer to achieve. Management takes these long-term goals and divides them into smaller more defined objectives. Leadership typically looks at the bigger picture while management concentrates on smaller objectives in order to assist leadership in accomplishing their long-term visions. Many would argue that these goals are the most important aspect of a business, however there are many moving parts that come together to make a successful business operate.

Motivation is a huge aspect of management role. In order for managers to become or remain successful, they must find creative and effective ways to motivate their employees. Unlike leaders, managers have subordinates to oversee working hand in hand with to accomplish leadership’s goals. Effective motivation is vital to the success of a manager. On the contrary, leaders may look on a larger scale, because they do not have any subordinates to supervise. Managers are paid to get things done, as they are subordinates too. They focus on accomplishing specific objectives where they need support from their subordinates. Once the support and buy in from their employees disappears, the business starts to see the negative effects on the business. Leadership has a distinct view of their role in the corporate structure that differs greatly than managers. Leaders have to be influential people and be able to portray their ideas effectively to others so they follow their lead. Instead of being completely focused on work, they focus more on people. Leaders are usually very good with people and do extremely well creating loyalty amongst the people they interact with on a daily basis. Being good with people does not necessarily mean they are friendly with them. They are focused on the end result instead of the little steps in order to meet those goals. They frequently like to get to the point and hate wasting their valuable time on subjects that do not yield a purpose. Many have referred to leaders as more of authoritative figure while managers focus more on their relationships with their employees. Management tends to be the micro aspect of the business while leadership focuses on the macro aspect. Even with all there differences, most argue that a good manager has to have the leadership qualities and visa versa. Managers must be influential in order for their employees to believe in their manager, and leaders must be able to manage in order for both to be effective. However, even though managers have to be influential to be successful, the influential aspect of their role is not nearly at the same level of leadership. The same could be said about managers. Even though leadership has to be able to successfully manage tasks, the level of their management is not in the same level as managers due to their focuses being quite different.

Managers have a tendency to refrain from risk weather it’s a project or people risk. They avoid conflict in order to maintain a happy and enjoyable workplace. They see the ability to impact their subordinates directly in order to maintain an engaging workplace. They are typically