Management > Leadership

            After reading the article by John Kotter titled “What Leaders Really Do,” it is easy to recognize the importance of effective management and strong leadership within a successful organization. To an uneducated observer, the terms “manager” and “leader” may appear interchangeable but after closer inspection, there are several glaring differences. In the following critical analysis, I will identify three distinctive components that represent each skill sets and argue that management is more important than leadership for the survival of an organization.

 

            Kotter identified three major differences that help distinguish one of these skill sets from the other. To help explain the differences between management and leadership, I like to use a metaphor that compares an organization to an automobile. In this scenario, managers would be mechanics and leaders would be drivers. First Difference: Managers have a better understanding of the complexities that make the organization “run smoothly” and leaders bring a “roadmap” to physically steer the organization. Second Difference: Managers replace missing “parts” through the hiring process while leaders empower the new employees with pep talks. The pep talks compare car washes since they both influence confidence. Third Difference: When the leader wants to alter the way the company looks/operates, the manager is responsible for making those changes happen. Using the automobile example, this is similar to a driver wanting to put a lift kit on their truck and having their mechanic do whatever it takes to make that happen.

            Demonstrated for centuries, successful organization must have strong management and strong leadership. This being said, in a hypothetical situation where a business can only have one or the other, I would recommend management when trying to “better” the organization. Without management, it is very difficult for a leader to produce results and keep the business lucrative. The Bible reinforces this point with the parable about the house built on sand and the house build on stone. Poor or non-existent management can be compared to the foundation of sand. If a leader attempts to build a house/organization on the unstable ground, devastation will eventually follow and the leader will be left with nothing. If the foundation is strong like the stone, you may not have a leader to expand the organization and “build the house.” As a result, the company will never experience devastation because the stone will remain unchanged.

            As a senior in the college of communication, I have noticed that there is a lot of misunderstanding about the differences between management and leadership. In the preceding paragraphs, the dissimilarities of each are outlined using an example that is easy to relate with. I have also provided support for the idea that management is more important for the long-term success. To achieve long-term growth, an organization must perform both functions.