5 Key Differences Between Managers and Leaders

Differences between managers and leaders: I feel that leadership takes moral precedence when it comes to these two terms. In some ways, I feel that the role of a manager is underplayed because leadership takes on a sexier state as compared to management which can be misconstrued as being boring and a less significant role. A good organisation needs both great managers and leaders. They have a different function, however. We will try to explore the differences between managers and leaders and how they serve businesses.

In a nutshell, a leader’s job is to set vision, challenge limitations and go beyond what’s visible. Whereas a manager’s job is to maximise the resources to give the best results amidst limitations. As you can see, they both come with completely different mindsets. One is expected to break the rules and think beyond what’s available. The manager on the other hand is all about maximising resources, and getting the best results with what have. It is all about maximisation.

Differences between managers and leaders

I see a lot of places use these two terms interchangeably. I strongly disagree because they are measured for different types of results. now, there are instances where they take on each other’s roles because things are not as straightforward as a definition. But the principles remain the same. As a leader, your focus is on the vision, future and to think beyond what’s possible sometimes. The manager however is not expected to think the same way and may sometimes be punished for this line of thought.

The differences between managers and leaders are:

1. Leaders focus on vision whereas managers focus on execution
2. Leaders inspire and managers control
3. Leaders are expected to take risks, managers are expected to reduce risks
4. Leadership focus is on long-term strategy whereas managers tend to focus on annual or sometimes quarterly time horizons
5. A leader is people and culture-oriented. A manager is task-oriented

Leaders focus on vision whereas managers focus on execution

As a leader, your role is to provide the future vision and direction for an organisation. You’re expected to think beyond what’s visible, be bold and take risks to define a vision. This vision will then be supported with a strategy and specific managers to execute these key deliverables.

In this context, the difference between a leader and a manager is in what their focus areas are. The vision is at a higher level compared to execution which tends to be more detailed, time-bound and often tactical.

Leaders inspire and managers control

This point is an extension of vision vs execution. A leader is supposed to inspire the team to a grander vision. You’ll need to think about the situation beyond what’s visible and create a compelling picture of the future. This future must be inspiring, help people think beyond limitations and come up with ideas to achieve this goal.

A manager must be able to control the resources at their hand – to make the best use of their resources for optimal output. It is a question of efficiency vs effectiveness. The manager ensures the most efficient use of resources to achieve the desired output. But this output may only be a small part of the vision that inspires people.

Leaders are expected to take risks, managers are expected to reduce risks

Risks define leaders. Hence, when we read about leaders, it’s all about the type of risks that they took, what paid off and the others that did not. These risks are based on a hypothesis which is validated by their findings or sometimes even a gut feeling. But we must appreciate that risks are prone to failures and leaders must be able to stand up and accept the outcomes of such a risk.

People will look up to their leaders to bear the results of both the success and failure of such risks. Managers on the other hand are risk-averse because their job demands them to reduce risks and provide predictability to the business. If you are a manager, you’ll recognise that the number one thing on your mind would be to derisk a project and highlight and mitigate any risks that will compromise the success of a project.

Leadership focus is on long-term strategy whereas managers tend to focus on annual or sometimes quarterly time horizons

Your leadership is defined by the ability to look beyond what’s visible. This sometimes means asking tough questions about strategy, defining a journey of where you want to be and mobilising people towards it. By nature, this journey tends to be long-term and adaptable because the theme and overall emotion for that change or growth is justified by that vision.

Managerial responsibility is limited to a stricter time horizon where you can envision the outputs periodically. In such a scenario, these two roles will be at loggerheads with each other. If the same person is performing both roles – this poses a strong juxtaposition of conflicting arguments.

A leader is people and culture-oriented. A manager is task-oriented

This is the last difference we’ll talk about between leaders and managers. Since a leader is long-term focussed, he/she has to focus on the team that’s delivering the results. They have to think about their motivation, vision and the impact on a long-term horizon. With people being the primary prerogative, leadership speaks to the emotional side of culture and the inspirational aspect of people. Managerial responsibilities are task-oriented. Success in this case is measured by the delivery of a certain project which sometimes may come at the cost of overworking which may conflict with the people/culture orientation.