Importance of Understanding Managers’ and Leaders’ Similarities and Differences
The primary distinction between leaders and managers is that leaders have followers, while managers have employees (Maccoby, 2000). A successful entrepreneur must be a great leader and manager to inspire their employees to share their strategic vision and pursue it. Leadership entails persuading others to share your vision and collaborate with you to achieve your objectives, whereas management focuses more on administration and ensuring day-to-day operations run smoothly. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend the similarities and distinctions between managers and leaders to build the necessary abilities to become more effective managers or leaders.
Although abilities distinguish leadership from management, skills also seem to overlap. Consequently, the following talents are essential for attaining or advancing in a leadership or management role:
- Attention to detail. Unlike managers, leaders employ their attention to detail to develop new ideas or solutions instead of pointing out defects or concerns. Detail analysis is an essential skill for both of them.
- The ability to communicate effectively with others in a leadership position. Leaders and managers must communicate effectively in both written and spoken form. They must also be able to actively listen to their coworkers to get the best out of them. A person’s ability to teach and be taught by others is a sign of a person who has a solid command of the language.
- Effective goal-setting. Managers are responsible for ensuring that the goals set by leaders are met by their personnel regularly. Leaders and managers who are good at defining and achieving goals help their staff fulfill expectations more effectively.
- Personality traits. On the other hand, managers may be more concerned with resolving conflicts and establishing a cohesive team through people management than leaders are. It is the responsibility of management to guarantee that her employees can work together effectively.
- Possesses the ability to solve problems effectively. Even though problem-solving abilities can be helpful to everyone, leaders must look for solutions that benefit the entire firm as a whole. Managers may be more concerned with their own department’s day-to-day work.
Role Models
Elon Musk, from the aerospace sector, and Steve Jobs, from the computer industry, are the two characters that I regard to be Management and Leadership, role models.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has acquired worldwide renown as the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc, the CEO and head designer of his space business SpaceX, and, most lately, as the wealthiest person globally (Mair, 2016). Musk co-founded PayPal, was a significant investor in Tesla, and arranged the privatization of Twitter Inc. in April 2022. Born and brought up in South Africa, Musk lived in Canada before relocating to the United States. Since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 with a degree in physics, Musk has worked as an entrepreneur in the technology sector, founding companies including Zip2 and X.com, which later merged with another business to form PayPal (Goldstein, 2021).
Steve Jobs
When Steve Jobs founded Apple Inc., he also served as chairman and CEO of the firm (Finkle and Mallin, 2010). Technology, entertainment, marketing, and pop culture all benefited from his influence, and his legacy will continue to shape the way people use technology. While he was away from Apple, Jobs invested in and helped develop the Pixar animation studio before its founding. NeXT was a company that would go on to build high-end computers (Gillam, 2008). When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the late 1990s, he spent many years till his death in 2011 modernizing the firm, releasing the iPod and iPhone, and the iPad, altering technology and communications (Lazonick et al., 2013).
It would be an exaggeration to say that Apple misses Steve Jobs tremendously. Under Steve Jobs’ leadership, the iPad was Apple’s last major innovation to hit the market; it was released in 2010. (Isaacson, 2012). Since then, almost all of Apple’s new products have been updated to old items, and none of them have been welcomed with the same fervor as Jobs’ products.
Management/Leadership styles
Autocratic Leadership
Leaders that employ an autocratic or authoritarian style of management are in charge of all decisions and have little regard for the opinions of their subordinates (Chukwusa, 2018). As a general rule, autocratic leaders prefer to make decisions based on their judgments rather than those of their subordinates. An autocratic boss exerts complete control over his or her subordinates. Like other leadership styles, the autocratic style has both advantages and disadvantages. Even though persons who rely on this method too strongly are perceived as dictatorial or dictator-like, this level of control can have advantages and be effective in some situations.
Authoritarian leadership can be effective in various settings, depending on the circumstances, the type of work being done by the group, and the individual personalities of the team members. Finding out something about your leadership style and the settings in which it works best can be beneficial if you inevitably lead a team in this manner.
Various accounts paint a picture of Steve Jobs as an authoritarian, which makes sense given his background. Steve does not take his employees’ input into account when making choices, and he rarely listens to them. He never sought input from anyone before making a decision, and he expected everyone to submit to his authority at all times. When Steve returned to Apple after being fired for being a dictatorial boss, he drew up a new set of rules for his staff. The details of his strategy were never a mystery to him. Now that their lives have been made more exciting through comfy computers, iPads, or multi-touch screen telephones in public places with complete contentment, clients of specific target markets at Apple have realized his directive leadership and perfectionism.
Transformational Leadership
A leader’s ability to motivate others to make positive changes is a hallmark of transformational leadership. It is common for transformational leaders to be exuberant and passionate. Furthermore, these leaders are dedicated to ensuring that every team member achieves their full potential (Alqatawenh, 2018).
Elon Musk is a transformational leader because of his leadership characteristics. He now counts among the ranks of innovators such as Steve Jobs. Leaders who transform society do so by articulating a compelling vision of a better future. These people use their vision to mobilize a group of supporters who believe in their cause. They also play an essential role in formulating and presenting the plan their teams will use to accomplish their goals. As a result, the organization can better realize its lofty objectives and positively impact the world. Ultimately, companies driven by transformational leaders are driven by a sense of purpose and excellent outcomes. It is anticipated that the Arenas will be completed in 2019.
Elon Musk is driven by the conviction that there is always room for improvement in whatever he does. As a leader, he has lofty goals and aims to inspire his team to work together to achieve them. While Musk has a long history in the aerospace industry, it only makes sense that an essential part of his strategy is to think outside the box when developing new products (Khan, 2021).
Opinion on the Role and Responsibilities of the Role Models
Based on Elon Musk’s traits, I believe he is an excellent manager. Elon admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he suffers from OCD regarding product concerns. To put it another way, Musk labeled himself in an interview as a “nano manager,” which implies that he can act as a micromanager in some situations. Elon Musk’s leadership style is characterized by innovativeness, imagination, speed, and ambition. Elon Musk is a complicated individual, and that complexity extends to his leadership style. He is both thrilling and motivating in many ways. He is also demanding and frightening in other ways.
According to Gumbe (2010), early leadership ideas were based on believing that leaders are born rather than created. Steve Jobs was born to lead Apple Inc. in technological progress, and he has done so ever since. The attribute theory of leadership was based on the idea that some people are born with specific characteristics that make them natural leaders (Daft, 2008). Steve Jobs possessed various admirable character attributes, including a strong work ethic, a strong sense of purpose, and a can-do attitude, contributing to his and his company’s remarkable success (Toma and Marinescu, 2013). Some of Steve Jobs’ actions are questionable from an ethical point of view, but his intelligence, tenacity, and self-assurance match up perfectly with his leadership strategy (Howell, 2013).
Summary
Essential Abilities and Characteristics for Becoming a Successful Manager/Leader
The top leaders need a solid set of leadership skills, regardless of whether they are running their firm or leading teams in an office environment. According to behavioral theories, leadership abilities can be learned rather than ingrained. As a result, teaching and learning these abilities over time can help people develop their leadership potential. Effective communication, honesty, accountability, empathy, humility, perseverance, vision, influence, delegating, confidence, open-mindedness, and positivism are crucial characteristics of a good leader. When it comes to effective leadership, it is not about inspiration or motivation but rather action that generates the respect and trust required to succeed in the workplace.
The course of study or qualification for a personal development program
When it comes to advancing in our careers, most of us are constantly striving for better feedback from our bosses, the opportunity to step up and take on more responsibility, and the recognition that comes with it. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is the ideal management training program (Zabriskie and McNabb, 2007). With an MBA, you will gain practical and theoretical leadership skills, access to crucial networking opportunities, and a significantly better chance of securing a C-level position.
References
Alqatawenh, A.S., 2018. Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 19(1), pp.17-24.
Arenas, F.J., 2019. A casebook of transformational and transactional leadership. Routledge.
Chukwusa, J., 2018. Autocratic leadership style: Obstacle to success in academic libraries. Library Philosophy and Practice, p.1.
Daft, R.L., 2008. The leadership experience (4. Baskı). Mason: Thomson Learning Inc.
Finkle, T.A. and Mallin, M.L., 2010. STEVE JOBS AND APPLE, INC. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 16(7), p.31.
Gillam, S., 2008. Steve Jobs: Apple iCon: Apple iCon. ABDO.
Goldstein, M.J., 2021. Elon Musk: Tesla Founder and Titan of Tech. Lerner Publications™.
Gumbe, S., 2010. Leadership Skills. The African Executive, 273, pp.1-6.
Howell, J.P., 2012. Snapshots of great leadership. Routledge.
Isaacson, W., 2012. The real leadership lessons of Steve Jobs. Harvard business review, 90(4), pp.92-102.
Khan, M., 2021. A critical analysis of Elon Musk’s leadership in Tesla motors. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, pp.1-10.
Lazonick, W., Mazzucato, M. and Tulum, Ö., 2013, December. Apple’s changing business model: What should the world’s richest company do with all those profits?. In Accounting Forum (Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 249-267). No longer published by Elsevier.
Maccoby, M., 2000. The human side: Understanding the difference between management and leadership. Research-Technology Management, 43(1), pp.57-59.
Mair, M., 2016. Enlightened entrepreneurship: the success of Elon Musk.
Toma, S.G. and Marinescu, P., 2013. Steve Jobs and modern leadership. Manager, (17), p.260.
Zabriskie, F.H. and McNabb, D.E., 2007. E-hancing the master of business administration (MBA) managerial accounting course. Journal of Education for Business, 82(4), pp.226-233.
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