To Be Great Leader One Must First Be a Good Manager

To be great leader one must first be a good manager

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall” Stephen Covey.

Although managerial and leadership skills are in some way interdependent, they are not the same. It is impossible to be a good leader without being able to manage the work and the team, and vise versa.

John Kotter – professor of the Harvard business school argues that management is about coping with complexity, and leadership, in contrast, is about coping with change. In contrast to management, that produces a degree of predictability and order, leadership produces change. Kotter sees both strong leadership and management equally important for best results in organizational effectiveness.

Warren Bennis in his book “On becoming a leader”, made a list of the differences between managers and leaders activities:

– The manager administers; the leader innovates.

– The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.

– The manager maintains; the leader develops.

– The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.

– The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

– The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

– The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

– The manager has an eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.

– The manager imitates; the leader originates.

– The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

– The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

– The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

Richard Daft, the professor of Management, who made a big contribution to the study of organisational behaviour, pointed out the other five differences:

– The manager plans and budgets; the leader creates vision and strategy [direction]

– The manager is generally...