by Skyler Wolf Jones

Created on: December 05, 2008

A manager: Organized, detail oriented, quantitative, watches the bottom line.

A leader: Inspires, connects, visionary, brings out the best in people.

There are many competencies that can be listed under each caption of manager and leader and there would also be many of those same competencies that overlap. I think it is important to note that this article is purely in support that companies who operate at optimal levels have a good balance of both styles.

Here is a brief list of some defining characteristics between a manager and a leader:

-A manager controls details, a leader inspires through details.

-A manager delivers a message, a leader inspires the message.

-A manager deals with employees, a leader develops employees.

-A manager assigns tasks to individuals; a leader involves and incorporates tasks with individuals.

-A manager notes a meeting; a leader contributes to a meeting.

-A manager tracks, a leader listens.

-A manager stays to a course, a leader creates the course.

-A manager reports, a leader observes.

-A manager gives policy and procedures, a leader gives solutions.

Have you ever stood in a room and watched a manager and a leader walk into a meeting or event. The manager slides in maybe saying hello to a few people and finds their way to a chair and watches. The leader walks into the room and everybody makes an effort to say hello, they speak to people into their eyes and completely grab the whole rooms attention.

Usually in organization a great example of this can be found between a CEO and a CIO. This also supports my statement that there is a need for both styles. Typically a CEO is the company face and visionary of the company. The CIO is the body, the infrastructure that gives the CEO a platform to lead. It is always fascinating to watch a leader and a manager come together and work on projects. It is a dynamic team because they usually cover the spectrum of management styles and appeal to all their employees. The CEO and CIO are obviously larger position; however the same principles apply all the way down the organizational chart. Where there is a great leader, there is usually a counter part of a great manager.

There are also some tradeoffs to both styles. If you put a leader in front of a group of programmers they might come off as to talkative and not structured enough. The same applies if you were to put a manager in front of a group of marketing individuals. They might come off as rigid.

The most important thing to distinguish between a manager and a leader is what type of group they will be overseeing. Each manager will have a certain amount of leader within them and each leader will have a certain amount of manager in them. The best teams who are operating at their highest abilities can normally be contributed to the proper management structure.

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