What is, or more specifically, who is the driving force
in your company that keeps the employees motivated and focused on the end
goal(s)? Is it your managers? Are there any other people, or leaders, in your
company that are the true driving force? Now here is the most important
question you must ask yourself: “Are your managers the true leaders of your company?”
Leadership is an important thing to have in a company
because it is linked directly to employee productivity and a company’s
success. A survey was recently
taken by 6seconds.org, where they asked leaders and team members questions
pertaining to company issues in terms of the employee side of things. One of
the questions addressed the issue of leadership and its importance. In short
the survey stated that, “58% of respondents identified leadership as the top
concern” of the company. Notice
that not only is leadership a top concern for a majority of the company, but
more importantly notice the wording of this question. It did not ask about
bosses, owners, or even managers; it asked about leaders. So what is the difference
between the two, managers and leaders?
When it comes to management and leadership it is important
to realize that these two positions/roles possess distinctive differences. Managers,
according to tnj.com, “are task oriented. They supervise and direct work flow
for maximum efficiency, therefore they tend to be more concerned about the
process and the results, rather than about the employees and their individual
needs.” Whereas Leaders, are focused not only on an end goal, but also with the
people involved in the process of reaching that goal. Leaders tend to be more people
and relationship oriented rather than just task oriented like managers are.
They have to be like that in order for them to fulfill their role, which
involves doing three main things:
inspiring, motivating, and guiding/ leading. This simple realization in
the differences of these two roles shows that a person can be a manager with
out being a leader. However when a
person can merge leadership and management into one role, he will find himself
not only being more effective, but also his employees becoming more productive.
Erika Anderson stated, on Forbes.com, “great work places
arise from great leaders.” I believe she is right. When a company has true
leaders in management positions, they will inspire the employees to be greater
and perform better. Leaders will display passion in their work and guidance of
others, while managers just… well they just manage. The relationships that
develop within a company between the leaders and workers will create a sense of
belonging and pride in the employees.
Just as Jack Welch once said, “ Before you are a leader,
success is all about growing yourself (In this case the company). When you
become a leader, success is all about growing others (employees).” This in turn creates a better work environment,
which leads to better productivity, and demonstrates why it is important for
managers to become more effective by embracing the role of a leader.
What do you think? Do you think there is a difference
between management and leadership? Is it important or even necessary for
managers to merge leadership qualities into their company role in order to be
effective? Please leave comments below and share your thought on the subject.
