The Leadership-Management Interface

A common question is, "what's the difference between leadership and management?"  There are several key differentiators, including execution, people, and approach.

THE MANAGER’S BOX

First and foremost is the difference in execution; simply put, a manager's role in the organization is to control the resources, budget, and time they are allotted to complete a specific set of tasks within their area of responsibility.  So enters the "manager's box" scenario, where managers have to keep everything in their box - scope, resources, and time - perfectly balanced.  Since managers are interested in reducing risk and maintaining the status quo to balance everything in the box, they create a formula for success based on their capped set of resources. Managers also focus on a short timeframe, usually based on the annual planning and funding cycle.  The manager's box may be slightly larger or smaller next year, based on prevailing support requirements, but the manager's role will be the same.

Clearly, changes to the environment or to their set of responsibilities can create havoc for the manager, who then has to modify their carefully prepared formula in order to meet the previously unplanned need.  Their execution focus on planning and budgeting requires rework.  And in most thriving organizations, change is a constant.  

Leaders, on the other hand, set the overall direction for the organization; they are less risk-averse and are interested in change, even though change creates disruption.  A leader's time frame also stretches well beyond the manager's time horizon, as they set a new long-term course for the organization to develop and deliver new services, products, and markets.  This creates the disruption that (potentially) upsets the manager's carefully balanced box, challenging the manager's ability to maintain order within their prescribed resources.

VERTICAL vs. MESH COMMUNICATIONS

The inherent people relationships managers and leaders create are also fundamentally different.   When it comes to people, managers rely on the chain of command, structured organizational and staffing model with typical vertical communications; they do this to maintain order and manage their resources efficiently.  Within a specific functional area, team members have specific roles and the manager seeks compliance among the team, who generally defer larger decisions to the manager as they focus on their individual tactical activities.  Leaders align people by developing horizontal and cross-enterprise relationships, using the entire mesh of the organization, to drive a broad future-state vision and enroll others in committing to its successful delivery.

The future-state approach also varies between managers and leaders.  The manager maintains primarily focus on tactical problem-solving to maintain timelines and budgets, whereas the leader focuses strategically, identifying and exploiting new potential across the organization in pursuit of new initiatives.  Managers, charged with staying within resource boundaries, focus on established processes and capabilities; leaders take a creative approach, using their influence to enroll others in an inspiring vision that delivers new capabilities.

THE SYMBIOTIC NATURE OF MANAGERS AND LEADERS

Even though there are distinct differences between managers and leaders, there exists a clear and necessary interface between the two.  It's important to realize that one is not better than the other; indeed, both need each other in order for the organization to thrive.  Leaders need managers to support and deliver existing services that meet current customer needs and service level agreements; managers need leaders to define new opportunities for growth and to expand capabilities.