In this week's reflection, I think the first thing that came to my mind is "Leadership is NOT the same as management." Yes, I thought it was the same thing as management before. However, I was wrong. A manager can certainly be a leader but not all leaders are managers. We often conflate leadership and management. Most of us use the two terms interchangeably with little downside. When we talk about leaders, we usually mean managers, and when we address managers, we think of them as leaders. It made me think of the definition of a leader. I reckon that leadership is about creating a shared vision of the future and then inspiring others to help achieve that vision. In short, it is the act of influencing others to work toward a goal. It is very confusing sometimes if we compare it to management. Management is defined as the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. It includes the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its members to accomplish its objectives through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological, and human resources.
Leadership vs. Management: What’s The Difference?
Therefore, as we can see, one of the differences is that leadership is focusing on "leading people" while management is focusing on controlling things or people, setting strategies, and coordinating efforts. Secondly, good managers don’t have to be great leaders and some leaders may not have the title. However, to smoothly lead a team, generally, you need both. Managers can support team members during daily operations and leaders share the bigger picture so team members can buy into the company’s overall vision. For example, a manager in Greenpeace may set a strategy to achieve or support a global plastics treaty. A leader in Greenpeace may share a vision like "A healthy, peaceful planet where our quality of life is measured in relationships, not things. We can do it together!" According to Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder and CEO, Asana, management is about setting priorities, evaluating priorities, hiring and firing decisions, compensation decisions. On the other hand, a leader is like a coach or a spiritual guide who is responsible for maintaining energy and aligning all members in the same direction.
One key topic I also want to mention here is that subordinates always pay attention to the level of ethical behaviors the leader demonstrates. Why? Because it is directly connected to trustworthiness. The level of ethical leadership was related to job satisfaction, dedication to the leader, and a willingness to report job-related problems to the leader. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. A leader can choose to be kind or evil with the same level of cleverness. However, an evil one is leading with fear or the common goals, rather than trust. What's wrong with that? What if your employees do not trust you and become spies or allies of your rivals? It can be more dangerous than announcing a bad product.
Reference
Hickey, K. F., Sri, V., Rosenstein, J., Tormey, T., Thai, J., Desroches, Z., Gittens-Ottley, S., & Schwartz, J. R. & C. (2016, November 29). Dustin Moskovitz shares his lessons on leadership. Wavelength by Asana. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-dustin-moskovitz-leadership/
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