Leadership
There are several crucial distinctions between managers and leaders.
Managers are essentially "doers." Managers execute a pre-defined vision by assigning roles and responsibilities to the other members of a team. They track individual progress and identify where change is needed to achieve the desired vision. Managers particularly excel at getting the confused, misguided, unmotivated, and misdirected to work towards a common purpose on a regular basis (1).
Leaders, by contrast, are visionaries. Leaders identity a need for change, then commit to the steps required to make it a reality. According to Harvard Business School Professor Joe Fuller, leaders excel at understanding and getting the best out of people, so they can be harnessed towards the vision: "The ultimate intersection between leadership and management is an appreciation for what motivates and causes individuals to behave the way they do, and the ability to draw out the best of them with a purpose in mind" (1).
The members of the Forbes Coaches Council, an organization of leaders, have listed criteria that differentiate leaders from managers (2). For example, managers are tactical and focus on training specific skills in others, whereas leaders are visionary and focus on growing others on many levels. Managers tend to ask "how," but leaders address "why." Managers also follow the rules, whereas leaders challenge the status quo. Last, being a manager is a position, whereas being a leader is a quality. |
The essential difference between managers and leaders (3). |
Perhaps the essential difference between managers and leaders was best said by leadership coach Doc Norton who stated, “Manager is a title. It’s a role and set of responsibilities. Leadership is the result of action. If you act in a way that inspires, encourages, or engages others, you are a leader. It doesn't matter your title or position” (2).
Leadership Styles
There are many different styles of leadership. According to the psychologist and journalist Dan Goleman, there are six in particular, which can be ranked from best to worst (4).
The visionary leader emphasizes the vision. This leader is focused on direction and progress, but allows the various team members to figure out how to get there on their own. The visionary leader is great for teams that need a clear direction for change, but already know their job. It can fail if the leader is too aggressive, or not competent.
The coaching leader gets "in the trenches" with the team. This type of leader works on building up the different team members for the long-term strength of the team. This is terrific when teams are demoralized or conflicted, but can fail if the leader takes on too much of the work as it does not allow the team members themselves to grow.
The affiliative leader emphasizes harmony within the team. This is good for healing rifts within the team during stressful times, particularly in the setting of highly competent teams who need little direction, but can fail if the team gets confused and unmotivated, leading to poor results.
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Goleman's six styles of leadership. |
The pacesetting leader emphasizes individual excellence and self-direction. This type of leader sets a pace amongst the team to achieve positive outcomes. The pacesetting leader is good for highly competent teams that need quick results, but can fail by creating a negative team atmosphere.
Finally, the commanding leader demands immediate compliance. This leader issues commands and expects them to be followed, which can work well in crisis situations or with problematic people. However, it fails in most other situations by fostering a a highly negative team atmosphere.
Importantly, despite the "best to worst" hierarchy portrayed here, each style can work best in a particular situation, so an effective leader must master several styles and know when to switch them up. In particular, leaders who master four or more styles obtain the very best performance from the team (particularly if they are the visionary, coaching, affiliative, and democratic styles).
The Best Style?
There may be yet one final style, known as transformational leadership, that ranks higher than the other styles in many situations (5). The type of leader is energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate and cares about a great "transformational" vision. The transformational leader identifies a huge need for change, inspires others with excitement and purpose, and then, in order to achieve this, encourages the various team members to develop themselves in a way that goes beyond their self-interests and supports the crucial vision.
In a classic analysis, Podsakoff and colleagues distinguished six crucial aspects to the transformational leader (6):
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Martin Luther King, a transformative leader. |