Leader vs. Manager

About

While working on a project, most people in the IT industry are familiar with the terms' manager and leader. Not only in the IT industry but in almost every other industry that works on a project, there are project leaders and managers. Between a leader and a manager, there are certain distinctions in terms of traits, positions, and responsibilities.

Leader:

A leader is someone who leads a group of people and motivates them to perform effectively and reach a common objective. As they build a vision and a path ahead to attain the goal, leaders use the transformative process. As a result, a leader is continually concerned about his or her team. A leader cultivates spheres of influence and leads by example.

Characteristics of a Good Leader:-

• Foresight: It is the ability to forecast and plan for the future.
• Intelligence: It is the ability to integrate and comprehend relevant data.
• Creative: To be creative means to think in a unique, new, and original way.
• Passion: Can is defined as the ability to stay active, show interest, and think successfully.
• Charisma: The ability to attract and influence others.
• Determination: This can be defined as the ability to make swift and suitable judgments.
• Self-assurance: Believing in one's talents and trusting one's abilities.
• Brave: Bravery is defined as the ability to make the first step to effect change in a circumstance.

Types of leaders:-

• Transactional Leader: These leaders employ social transactions to influence their followers, i.e., they inspire by rewarding subordinates for their productivity, which encourages them to strive toward the objective.
• Transformational Leaders: Leaders that are transformational inspire and rouse their people to strive for remarkable results. He or she is someone who steps forward to make a difference.
• Charismatic leader: A leader whose energy, excitement, and charm frequently influence people to act in a certain way. His strength comes from his excellent character and heroism.
• Visionary Leader: A visionary leader is someone who can create and follow a goal that is not only feasible but also attainable.

2. Manager:-

A manager is someone who plans, directs, coordinates, and controls an organization or a project. Managers employ a transactional procedure while delegating responsibilities and meeting goals. As a result, a manager is in charge of a team. Organizational skills, managerial skills, problem-solving skills, and conformance are all traits of a manager. A manager establishes power circles and exercises authority.

Types of Managers:-

• Top-level Managers: Top managers are the true leaders of any company. They are the people who work at the top or near the top of the corporate ladder. It might include titles such as CEO, MD, Chairman, Director, and so on.
• Middle-level Managers: They serve as a connection between upper-level and lower-level executives. It might be a department manager, a plant manager, or a project manager, for example.
• First-line managers: also known as front-line managers or functional managers are in charge of the day-to-day operations of a company. They are in charge of non-managerial employees' daily tasks. Supervisors, section officers, shift managers, foremen, and others may be included.

Managerial Functions:-

• Planning: Setting goals, formulating strategies, and developing plans to coordinate the organization's actions are all part of the planning role.
• Organizing: Organizing requires arranging resources and scheduling tasks so that activities may be performed in a logical order.
• Staffing: This job entails finding suitable people for various positions inside a company.
• Directing: Instructing, guiding, motivating, counseling, monitoring, and leading individuals towards the achievement of organizational goals is referred to as direct.
• Controlling: Controlling entails making comparisons to the actions performed by staff to ensure that they are carried out as intended. And if there are any discrepancies, steps should be made to correct them.

Managerial Skills and Competencies:-

• Managerial Conceptual Skills: Managerial Conceptual Skills are the ability to appropriately assess and recognize complicated circumstances.

• Interpersonal Skills: These are abilities that enable managers to collaborate with people, both individually and in groups.

• Technical Abilities: It identifies the managers' job-specific technical skills and knowledge required to do duties efficiently.

• Political skills are the ability to form strong bonds through power, influence, or support.

Conclusion

As the proverb goes, "a manager is generally a leader, but the reverse is not true." Do you know why this is? A manager may also act as a leader in a company by influencing and motivating others who work for him, but not all leaders are managers, as some head informal groups like our buddy circle or dance group. As a result, because informal organizations lack a manager, we might refer to the person in charge as a "leader."