Differences between a Leader and a Manger - Essay Example

“While a manager receives their authority based on their role, a leader's authority is innate in their approach” (Coach4Growth, 2010). Managers adopt approaches like autocratic, democratic, etc in their management styles in order to manage their duties successfully. On the other hand, leaders bank on their personal qualities and charisma to attract followers. For example, Mahatma Gandhi influenced the followers because of his personal qualities and charisma rather than giving any stubborn instructions. It is difficult for the managers to influence the subordinates as Mahatma Gandhi did. Managers always interact with the subordinates with the help of instructions. “The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust” (Leadership Vs. Management, 2000). The mission of leadership is all about making changes whereas the manager’s mission is all about bringing stability. The leaders will always look for long-term goals whereas the managers are more focused on the short-term goals (Leadership vs. Management, 2010). In other words, the leaders develop the ideas and strategies and the managers implement them. Managers do not want to think much about the long-term aspects of a policy they are implementing. These policies are formulated by the leaders for achieving long-term goals after careful evaluations.

To conclude, both the management and leadership functions are extremely different.