Leadership vs. Management, Essay Example

When I think about leaders and managers, I am often reminded of a quote by Steve Carey, an advisor to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, “I obey a manager because I have to. I follow a leader because I want to.” (Forster, 2011). This quote tells me that subordinates follow leader because they admire some attribute in the leader and/or personally share his/her dreams and visions. The leader exercise informal powers over their subordinates which exist outside their formal positions or ranks. In contrast, subordinates follow managers because they have little choice. Thus, managers mostly exercise formal powers over their subordinates which exist only during the life of their formal ranks or positions. Another difference between leaders and managers is that leaders are usually concerned with the bigger picture as well as developing the overall strategy instead of worrying about day-to-day operations and other minor aspects. On the other hand, managers are more concerned with day-to-day operations.

I would prefer to be a great leader as opposed to a great manager. This may also be due to my philosophy that people can be trusted and everyone holds great potential that can only be realized through support and encouragement. While we can use formal powers to force others to obey our instructions, formal powers can’t persuade others to do their best. Only informal powers and influence can inspire subordinates to go out of their way to achieve the leader’s goals and visions. I also believe that putting trust and confidence in followers inspire them to be more creative instead of taking the safer path.

Steve Jobs is one great example of how leaders can get better performance from subordinates through informal powers and influence rather than formal power and influence. Steve Jobs was popular as a difficult boss and Fortune magazine even labeled him as one of the leading egomaniacs in the Silicon Valley (Williams, 2012) yet Apple’s record under Steve Jobs is the envy of the industry. Another leader I would like to mention in order to support my case is Warren Buffet. Buffett is probably the greatest investor of our times and people are even willing to pay huge sums to have paid dinner with him yet he is known to give ample room to his subordinates at different companies that Berkshire Hathaway owns. This shows that a leader inspires his/her subordinates rather than micromanaging them which is more a job of a manager.

Other examples of great leaders who have inspired their followers to be the best they are include Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page and Virgin’s Richard Branson. All of these leaders are known to avoid micromanaging and encourage their subordinates to think outside the box. As a result, both companies continue to innovate even after years and these leaders are not only admired by their own subordinates but also other people who may never work for them. Thus, great leaders do not only positively influence their organizations only but their influence extends to general public as well.

Someone who doesn’t agree with me and thinks managers are more important may give the example of Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO and former Chief Operating Officer. Tim Cook was more of a manager during Steve Jobs time and probably Jobs’ closest aide. My opponents may argue that Jobs trust in Cook demonstrates the importance of a manager and this is also the reason why Tim Cook got the position vacated by Jobs.

The opponents may be right that Tim Cook is more of a manager than a leader but it is now clear that Apple is not doing as well under Tim Cook’s leadership as it did under Jobs leadership. Apple’s competitors have been catching up, especially Samsung because while Cook may be an excellent manager, he doesn’t have the power to inspire people like Jobs did who was more of a leader though his leadership style might have been autocratic in nature. Not surprisingly, Jobs even inspired difficult individuals such as Apple’s ex-mobile software head Scott Forstall to do their best but Cook found it difficult to manage difficult but talented subordinates like Forstall and had to fire him (Lessin, 2012).

But this doesn’t mean that all leaders are better than managers because these two roles may or may not be assumed by the same person. There are different leadership styles some of which have characteristics quite similar to managers such as autocratic leadership style. Similarly, McGregor’s Theory X (MindTools) assumes workers dislike work and are not reliable, thus, should be closely supervised. The leaders who adopt this view act quite like managers. Similarly, some managers may give room to workers to explore their creative potential as some do at Google and in doing so, inspire their followers just as great leaders do. Great leaders usually subscribe to McGregor’s Theory Y and if we study modern business literature, we again and again find research articles that explain the benefits of empowering employees and giving them room to demonstrate their creativity instead of micromanaging them. Similarly, other management terms use to describe leaders that inspire people without the use of formal powers include charismatic leaders and transformational leaders.

References

Forster, N. (2011). Maximum Performance: A Practical Guide to Leading and Managing People at Work. Saudi Arabia: Al Faisal University.

Lessin, J. E. (2012, October 30). Apple Shake-Up Signals Tim Cook Era. Retrieved April 8, 2013, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204840504578089102411834238.html?mod=WSJ_hpsMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

MindTools. (n.d.). Theory X and Theory Y. Retrieved April 8, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_74.htm

Williams, R. (2012, April 12). Why Steve Jobs is not a leader to emulate. Retrieved April 8, 2013, from http://business.financialpost.com/2012/04/12/steve-jobs-is-not-a-leader-to-emulate/