Strategic Management vs Strategic Leadership in the Workplace

Within every successful organization, there’s an individual, or a team of people, spearheading operations. These people go by many different titles, including managers, directors, leaders, executives, etc. Despite the varying titles, the purpose of the position is to govern the organization and keep it afloat and moving forward. Every organization needs a “head huncho”, but the type of people in these positions can make or break an organization. When discussing methods for keeping an organization running in an efficient and effective matter, both management and leadership are needed. And yes, they are two distinctly different concepts with distinctly different purposes.

While the terms "management" and "leadership" are typically used interchangeably or used to describe executive members of an organization, the two terms have very different meanings and functions within an organization. According to the article "Management is Still Not Leadership", management essentially refers to a process or job functionality within the organization that keeps the organization running smoothly. Manager/management is a job title, and the purpose of that position involves supervising other employees, delegating daily tasks, problem-solving, and ensuring that the day to day operations of the organization are carried out. Managers are the people in charge that keep the company and its employees in line so that the company can produce the products and services it promises efficiently and consistently. Having management is crucial for any organization, especially large organizations with a large amount of employees. While managers seem to depict what we think of as leaders, management does not equate to leadership.

Leadership, on the other hand, is not a job title or a process. Leadership is a behavioral concept centered around vision, innovation, empowerment, and positive change. According to Forbes, leadership is best defined as “a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, toward the achievement of a goal.” Leadership is about the person, not the position. To be a leader means to be both people-oriented and goal oriented, having the vision for the organization to reach certain goals and equipping the people within the organization with the tools, encouragement, and assistance necessary to help the organization reach those set goals.

A grave misconception about leadership is that leaders are always people in executive level positions or people with power within an organization. From the definition and essence of leadership, however, a leader is anyone who is able to motivate, influence, and empower others to achieve a goal or vision that has been set forth. Anyone can be a leader at any given time, and leadership can change depending on the circumstance. For example, a subordinate employee could become the leader during a collaborative project at work by taking the initiative to motivate and lead other team members to accomplish a given result.

While leadership and management seem like similar concepts, they have many distinct differences in terms of style, focus, and aim. According to ChangingMinds.org (2002), managers have subordinates while leaders have followers. Since management is a title, managers have power over others that is seen as formal authority based on their job title. Leaders, on the other hand, have followers since the people under them are voluntarily following the vision and goals that the leader has set forth because they want to, not because they are obligated to. Managers have an authoritarian or transactional style of dealing with subordinates, while leaders have a charismatic or transformational style of dealing with followers. Managers are work-focused, while leaders are people-focused. Managers seek comfort, stability, and routine while leaders seek risk, opportunity, and innovation. Due to their position as the person keeping a business running smoothly and efficiently from day to day, managers prefer routine and non-confrontational atmospheres. Leaders, on the contrary, are strategic risk takers, finding opportunities to evoke change within the organization with the goal to move the organization forward.

Ultimately, the concepts of management and leadership differ in focus. While a manager’s main focus is governing the daily routine of a company, a leader’s main focus is creating and implementing a vision for the future. Essentially, managers manage tasks, and leaders lead people. Leaders pour into the employees and focus on the future, while managers pour into the job function and focus on running the company. Both functions are needed to help a company succeed. An organization needs management to ensure that the company runs efficiently in the present time, and an organization needs leadership to have a vision and ensure that the company is still around, growing, and successful in the future.

Both leadership and management are equally integral to an organization, especially in the process of internal communication. As we discussed in a prior post, internal communication involves the formal and informal transaction of messages, information, feedback, and ideas within an organization. Internal communication is often a primary factor in the success or failure of an organization, and the leadership and management within the organization have the power to address any problems within the internal communication process and improve on current internal communication avenues. Leaders and managers can improve internal communication within an organization by promoting and facilitating quality conversation, feedback, and listening. Employees often look to those in leadership and managerial positions to start the conversation, or to be their voice. Managers and leaders should work to ensure that every internal audience member feels that his or her voice is heard, wanted, and valued. Employees should know and feel that they are allowed to have an opinion and give constructive feedback without repercussion or ridicule.

In the most successful companies, both managers and leaders are present. Ideally, managers should also be leaders. In most instances, however, very few organizations have efficient leadership, and many managers do not have leadership capabilities. More often than not, we’ve heard the phrase “people don’t quit jobs. They quit managers.” Rarely, if ever, have we heard about people quitting leaders. To solve this problem, organizations should focus on strategically having a balance of management and leadership within the organization, so that the organization does not end up being over-managed and under-led.

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