Management vs Leadership

​Leadership has become a hot topic amongst younger generations in the workforce. As the need for effective leadership continues to trend upwards in the workplace, so has the rise in social media posts that focus on leadership as the main driving force of an organization's success.

While leadership is essential in all aspects of life, from recreation to business, and is crucial for any team's success, other factors contribute to a company's success that should not be overlooked.

The simple definition of leadership is guiding or influencing others to reach a common goal. One could also view it as a manipulation of group members who lack the strength to achieve a common goal independently. Either way, the goal of leadership is to get a group of people to work together to complete a task that benefits the desired need. Partnering people who lack certain skills with people who have those specific skills can help the skilled persons master styles of leadership that the others will buy into. On the business level, this is the simplest act of leading people for the company’s best interests.

The other side of business success is management. Yes, I said management. "Management" has almost become a bad word in the minds of many because of its negative connotations. Because of this, the term management is often pushed aside and replaced with "leadership," which provides a different connotation. If people think they are being "led," it makes them feel good. However, if they feel they are being "managed," it feels demoralizing, and this is where the problem starts. Being managed still means being led. Someone has to take charge. A manager or boss, has an essential job. When a manager does not do their job correctly, there is nothing left to lead.

Management is the controlling of assets and resources by planning, organizing, examining, thinking, directing, and leading to create success for a business and its shareholders. We have to recognize that without management, there is no leadership. Without a boss overlooking the entire situation, using multiple sources of data, knowledge, and experiences, the leadership has no direction.

The role of management is much more than the leadership of the people. Management is the leadership of the company. People in management are required to examine many different influences beyond simple directional leadership. Managers must see all sides of the process and make decisions that will set the foundation, so that those who lead and follow can be successful.

If management is such an important part of a company's successful operations, and is a foundation for leaders, why is it such an undesirable term? We can dissect generational traits, or blame the organizations for not putting better managers into their roles. We can try to prove that pop culture has helped contribute to some of management's negative connotations. We can also say that the use of social media and freedom of choice has closed our minds and limited our thoughts to expose ourselves only to the media that conforms to our personal views.

We can even blame the people who saw the need to make a good business move while exploiting a specific style of leadership or management that appealed to their followers. Any of these could be contributing factors.
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In the end, everyone in the business world could benefit from being educated on the basic principles of leadership and management to see how everything ties together, and  identify key components to overall business success, rather than just their own personal wants, or goals.

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