Manager or a Leader?

Hello my friends:

Today's post examines the characteristics found in all organizations. As a you read ask yourself am I a manager or a leader?

What are the differences between Management and Leadership?


One’s position within the organization will commensurate with the responsibility trusted upon the individual. To extrapolate from Daft’s 2005’s top down management theory we see that a manager would have to do at least 60% more than a leader.

A manager is expected to lead, plan, organize, and control on the basis of academic qualification and experience. While a leader does just that – lead- on the basis of influence. John Maxuel sums up his definition of leadership as “leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”

The distinction between a manager and a leader is further clarified by Stephen R. Covey “Effective leadership is putting things first". Effective management is the discipline, carrying it out.

To carry out the functions of organizational management effectively, training is a must. The manager can be a leader but the leader cannot be a manager without training or experience. Nonetheless some leaders attain the position of manager over time by being awarded a (QBE) Qualified by Experience Certification on the demonstration of management capabilities and interest in principles.

Management principles were introduced by the Ecclesiastical Intuitions of the Roman era and perfected by the French vis-à-vis Henri Foyal – the father of modern management. Therefore, the Old French definition of ménagement as “the art of conducting, directing” from the Latin man agere, ‘to be led by the hand’.

In conclusion, whether the leader is tradition or contemporary in style or transactional or transformational in nature, both the leader and the manager must collaborate and work toward achievement of the organizational goals. However, it is the manager, not the leader who will be held accountable since that individual was placed in that position of responsibility.