Leadership and management are two of the most common word used when one is dealing in management field and they both involve motivating people to achieve a common goal or task, however, there are many differences between leadership and management let’s look at some of those differences –
- The first and foremost difference is that while in the case of leadership the person is called the leader of the group and he or she has followers whereas in the case of management the person is called the manager of the group and he or she has subordinates.
- While in case of management it is the position of the manager which is respected and it is the only reason why people obey or take orders whereas in case of leadership it is the personality of the leader which is respected and that is the reason why it is easy to replace a management position while very difficult to replace a leadership position.
- Another difference is that while in case of management the manager focuses more on systems and procedures laid down by the company and try to make sure that people follow all the systems and procedures while doing their work whereas in case of leadership the leaders focuses more on people and try to make sure that people do the work according to their will and creativity and achieve the objectives set out by the leader.
- While management is more relevant in case of companies because the eye of management is on profits and that’s why the style of management is more professional whereas in case of leadership the eye of leader is on bigger goal and that is the reason why they do not pay attention to small goals or success and moreover their decisions, as well as actions, are guided by emotions and hence in a way leadership is more emotional and less professional in nature.
- Management is a subject which is taught in business schools and people are trained to be good managers whereas in case of leadership it is very difficult to teach as it comes naturally to the person and one cannot be trained to be a great leader and hence a good leader can be a good manager also but it is not necessary that a good manager can necessarily be a good leader.
- An example of leadership is one seen in political rally where thousands of people come to ground to witness and hear their leader whereas an example of management will be when a political rally the ground is empty and people are lured by offering cash or free goodies so that they come to ground by the leader himself or by the party people to which the leader belong.
As one can see from the above that leadership and management have many differences while management is like a ship which tries very hard to try to avoid turbulent waters so as to reach the destination safely whereas leadership is like a ship which goes in turbulent waters not only to reach the destination but conquer it as well.