Management and leadership are similar, but they have different purposes and require different skills. Management focuses on recourses such as financial stability and hiring employees. Leadership focuses on strategy and vision, and they work together to motivate the employees, and draw out the best of them with a purpose in mind.
Liz Ryan, a contributor to Forbes, describes several ways that leadership and management differ. One of the most significant distinctions between the two is that managers coordinate employee activity, while leaders need to focus on building trust in the workplace. That requires learning that works in both directions, she said. “When your Team Mojo level is right, you will learn from your teammates, they will learn from you and all of you will learn from one another,” she said. “If the manager is always the subject matter expert, too, then something in your environment is out of whack. That’s a waste of incredible life experience, insight and perspective that only a group of switched-on collaborators can bring to bear on your organization’s challenges.”
A good leader finds him/herself asking questions like:
- How do I promote teamwork?
- What do employees require to grow in their careers?
- How do I empower employees to do their best work?
In a management role it goes a bit like:
- How many people do I need to hire?
- What is our budget for this project?
- What is the return on investment?
Things both roles have in common is that they go hand in hand. These roles work together with employees to communicate, and influence to be able to achieve business goals in a timely matter.