“Managers do things right but leaders do the right things”
Warren Bennis
Both managers and leaders are by definition someone who guides a group of people towards a goal, but leadership and management are not the same thing. One can be a leader without being a manager and one can manage without leading. The main difference between managers and leaders is in their commitments and visions. “A manager is concerned with how decisions get made and how communications flow; a leader is concerned with what decisions get made and what he or she communicates (Robin, Bartlett and Miller, 1990).”
John Adair, mentioned later for his Action Centered Leadership model used the original word meanings to emphasise this: Leadership is an ancient ability about deciding direction, from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning the road or path ahead; knowing the next step and then taking others with you to it. Managing is a later concept, from Latin 'manus', meaning hand, and more associated with handling a system or machine of some kind.
Leadership is not just good management, but good management is part of the overall job description of a leader. A leader sets a vision for the group to follow, works with the people. A manager directs the team and plans the business according to values that have been established by the company.
A leader is someone a team would naturally follow through their own choice. She or he has a vision for the future, and isn’t afraid of innovating or changing the rules. A good leader is charismatic and it’s for her/his personal qualities that the team is influenced to work together for a common cause.
A manager has a team of people that work for them, and plans and organizes the business focusing more on goals and structures. They can empower the team by...