The Difference Between Management and Leadership

The terms Management and Leadership have been used interchangeably in so many cases over the past years. Many people think that Managers are automatically leaders whilst Leaders on the other hand are naturally seen as Managers. The lack of knowledge of the differences between the two processes and how to integrate both to achieve excellence has led to many organisations being under led and over managed. Some Leaders and scholars therefore believe it is important to make a distinction between the processes of management and leadership. One of such scholars is Peter Drucker, a management guru who distinguishes the two processes as “Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things”. Whilst agreeing with him, I also want to add that Management and Leadership must go hand in hand because in modern times, “People no longer look to their managers just to assign them a task but to define for them a purpose, to nurture skills, develop talent and inspire results” (Murray, n.d.). In the next paragraphs we will look at the difference between Management and Leadership through the lens of Peter Drucker’s distinction.

Management is defined by Mary Parker as “the act of getting things done through other people”. Gardener defines a Manager as “an individual, who holds a directive post in an organisation, presiding over the processes by which the organisation functions, allocating resources prudently and making the best possible use of people” (Komives, Lucas, McMahon, 1946). Leadership on the hand is defined by Matusak (1996) “as a process which entails initiating, guiding and working with a group of people to accomplish a change”. A Leader is therefore “an individual who induces a group to pursue objectives held by the l...

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Komives R. Susan, Lucas Nance, McMahon R. Thimothy. (1946). Relational Leadership. In N. L. Susan R. Komives, Expolring Leadership (pp. 33-34). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Maccoby, M. (2000, 1 1). Understanding The Difference Between Management And Leadership. Research Technology Management, 43(1), 57-59. Retrieved on 15th Aprill, 2014 from htpp://www.tamarackcommunity.ca

Murray, A. (n.d.). The Wall Street Jounal Guide To Management. Retrieved on 18th Aprill, 2014 from The Wall Street Journal: http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership/