Are you a Manager or a Leader?

What is the difference between being a manager, or being a leader. These are often interchanged terms, and often rather ignorantly. We often hear the saying some people are great managers, or others were born to lead. But in reality, are either of these natural abilities, or are they learned behaviors.

First lets look at the differences between managers and leaders. According to the book ‘Leadership Theory and Practice’ by Peter G Northhouse, leadership is defined as:

 Leadership: the process of an individual to influence a group to achieve a common goal

Management: the process of seeking order and stability

The following chart from the same book demonstrates this very clearly

Todays IT leader must manage to produce order and consistency, or another way to put it “command and control”. Successful IT leaders make order out of ciaos. However as a leader, they must also be assuming the leadership role of producing change and movement. The IT leader must be business focused, and not task focused. They must be able to gain command and control, but then set the vision, and drive the group forward.

Some people are good managers, some are great leaders, or rare occasions you find people who are both. In my career I have worked for managers, I have also worked for leaders. On a few occasions I have worked for people who were both a exceptional  managers, and a exceptional leaders. It is from these people I have been granted amazing examples of how this plays out in reality.

Dave Hodgson

Tags: IT, Leaders, Leadership, Management