Leadership and management are often seen as different, but the document argues they are complementary systems that are both necessary for organizational success. While leaders and managers have different functions, leaders bring inspiration and vision to guide change, while managers provide analysis, rationality, and risk avoidance to build on existing strengths. In knowledge-based organizations, both roles are needed - leaders to shape new ideas and managers to balance these with process. The organization requires leaders to challenge managers and managers to challenge leaders in order to achieve balance.

1. OL 670 Module One 1
Leaders vs. Managers
“Leadership is different from management, but not for the
reasons most people think.
Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do
with having ‘charisma’ or
exotic personality traits. It is not the province of a chosen few.
Nor is leadership necessarily
better than management or a replacement for it. Rather,
leadership and management are
two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has
its own function and
characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an
increasingly complex and
volatile business environment.”
— John Kotter (2001, p. 3)

2. “Leaders” lead and “managers” manage. It is as simple as that.
In 1992, Harvard Professor Abraham Zaleznik wrote a highly
controversial article for Harvard
Business Review titled “Managers and Leaders: Are They
Different?” Zaleznik challenged
the traditional view of management by arguing that management
“omits essential leadership
elements of inspiration, vision, and human passion”—all factors
that drive organizational
success (1992, p. 74). From here, the debate of “leaders versus
managers” flourished.
The title of this section was selected to spark reflection—and
controversy. The fact is that in
the Knowledge Age, successful organizations need both
“leaders” and “managers.” Leaders
and managers both have strategic roles to play in modern-day
organizations. The manager
brings analysis, rationality, tolerance, and risk avoidance to the
organization. The leader
brings inspiration, vision, passion, the ability to lead change,
and a willingness to take risks.
The traditional role of the manager is to take an impersonal and

3. passive outlook towards
goals. Goals for the manager arise out of necessity, not desire.
The role of the manager in
the workplace is to negotiate and coerce, to design
compromises, and to avoid risks.
Traditionally, managers have played an objective, unbiased
role, attempting to avoid
emotional involvement and to focus on “process.” Managers
build on existing organizational
strengths. In Knowledge Age organizations, the role of
managers is required but must be
balanced by the role of the leader.
2 OL 670 Module One
The role of a leader in Knowledge Age organizations is to take
a personal, active outlook
that shapes ideas and a vision for the organization. The leader’s
role is grounded in
emotions—their own powerful emotions and the ability to evoke
emotional responses in
others. A key characteristic of a leader is to effect change—to

4. lead people to a new vision of
what can be and to guide them to the achievement of that vision.
Leading change will be
discussed in Module Seven. A leader will take risks if the
opportunities justify the effort, and
leaders will create an environment where creativity and
innovation thrive. A leader is rarely
satisfied with the current state and will strive to alter human
and economic relationships to
advance the organization.
Clearly, the Knowledge Age organization requires both leaders
and managers to succeed.
Organizational leaders and managers must effectively coexist in
order to challenge one
another and achieve a balance of analytical and emotional
orientations.
OL 670 Module One 3
References

5. Kotter, J. (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business
Review, 79(12), 3.
Zaleznik, A. (1992). Managers and leaders: Are they different?
Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 74–81.