Though the words manager and leader seem to signify the same thing, they are different. This paper will discuss the differences between these two titles, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.
One difference between leaders and managers is that leadership is wide ranging, and often involves getting the leadership title by demonstration of leadership skills. On the other hand, a manager is a position created towards particular ends; managers are persons who are responsible for the important aspect of a project, job or team ( Martin et al., 2005). The second difference is that managers have the responsibility of delegating and implementing business plans or team plans. They keep constant understanding of those in charge in a group. A leader, on the other hand, takes the lead in a group and sets the pace for the group and helps other perform. The third difference is that managers are considered as superior, having subordinates who follow and do what they are instructed to by their managers. Leaders do not necessarily have subordinates but have followers who believe in the leader, and they are not obliged to follow the leader as it is for a manager and their subordinates ( Drucker, 2012).
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Benefits of Being a Manager
One benefit is that Managers have subordinates who follow them thus it is easy for them to get a task done through delegation. The other benefit is that in case of success in an organization, managers get all the glory as it is assumed that it was solely their effort.
Disadvantages
First, managers avoid human emotions and desires in decision making and prefer to use scientific methods and due to this, in most cases, they are in conflict and face resistance from their subordinates. Secondly, in case of failure, managers carry the blame despite there being other causes of the failure apart from managerial issues ( Martin et al., 2005).
Benefits of Being a Leader
Leaders have better people skills than managers and they tend to focus on human emotion and desires and thus they relate well to their follows and are able to get a task done with ease. Secondly, group leaders have a higher potential to influence the direction of activities of a group and can thus assert ideas that he favors professionally or personally.
Disadvantages
Leaders lack subordinates hence have nobody to delegate to and they do the task themselves. Secondly, leaders face separation that comes with being a group leader which can lead to isolation ( Drucker, 2012).
References
Drucker, P. (2012). The practice of management . New York: Routledge.
Martin, R., Thomas, G., Charles, K., Epitropaki, O., & McNamara, R. (2005). The role of leader ‐ member exchanges in mediating the relationship between locus of control and work reactions. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology , 78 (1), 141-147.
