Managers and leader serve two distinct and separate functions within any organization. It is therefore important to keep in mind the required difference in the personality styles of these two roles.
The chief purpose of a manager is to ensure the proper operation of administrative processes in an organization and to thereby maximize its productive output.
A manager is required to maintain stability, discipline and control in the organization, and to solve problems with a view to the given operational structure, resources, goals and employee benefit. They are required to manage the problems that need to be resolved and optimize performance given the organizational restraints and to devise the best ways to do so.
Managers therefore tend to base their decisions more on the pressing and immediate needs of the day rather than long term goals and objectives.
Since they must necessarily focus on the current states of activities their decisions may often appear narrow; but it is also possible for them to look upon their work as an enabling process rather than one meant only for damage control. So, on their part, managers are good at working out short term strategies, negotiating compromises and mediating conflicts.
They can make valuable decisions by maneuvering people and ideas and by organizing and balancing contrary people and points of view.
Leaders, on the other hand, are generally conceived of as successful but lonely individuals. They have attained mastery over themselves and therefore can better control others while also creating for them a vision which infuses their work with value and direction.
Leaders are accordingly held to be imaginative, fervent and prone to taking risks; they are perceived to be proactive for promoting their ideas instead of simply reacting to the present situation.
They shed new light on long-standing problems and are engaged in developing their ideas and solutions. Similarly, leaders are seen as possessing the ability to relate to people in intuitive and empathetic ways, and to fill them with enthusiasm for their ideas.
Thus, a leader tends to be a new arrival to an organization, someone who has been imported for their vision, daring and innovation, but who may not necessarily have the experience or worldly prudence to implement the motion of change.
So whereas a leader is one who can instinctively command a following amongst employees and unite them for a common goal, a manager has to steadily work up the ladder and seek authority on the basis of their rooted and proven position in the company. A manager has to gain his standing through long and dependable service and effective organizational skills based on a clear understanding of how each level of the organization works.
Thus, managers and leaders adopt different approaches towards their goals. While the leader uses passion to generate emotion, the manager utilizes a more formal, rational method. But irrespective of these differences, successful managers and leaders both must seek to motivate and involve their employees.
If they can make the employee believe that he is appreciated and respected, and is a significant part of the organization, it is that much easier to inspire him and tap his potential.
Therefore it is vital for managers and leaders to involve employees in the process of making decisions and to inform them of any changes relevant to their position. Additionally, it is important for managers and leaders to remain approachable and available to employees and to show genuine interest in their needs.
All this generates a sense of security and belongingness in employees, making them want to work harder and contribute to the overall success of the organization.
