Managerial Leadership - not just leadership

A must in today’s environment

Many Indian companies including MNC are not doing well as they are unable to face
competition, pressure and take "quick right" decisions. It is said that you cannot do
business with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow. A manager has to
develop good leadership quality in order to take the company to the top. The style
keeps changing as the situation with the types of people. It said that Steve Job, founder
of Apple Computer possesses consummate charm, infectious enthusiasm and overdose
of charisma. This really helped the company to take the lead. Korean managers were
able to do better compared to Japanese as they developed managerial leadership
quality, which is flexible and open. This led to success of Koreans in America and even
in India. Leadership style should blend with managerial functions. Leadership inevitably
requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people. An effective
manager gets the job done through high quantitative and qualitative standards of
performance with satisfaction and high degree of commitment. A managerial culture
emphasizes rationality and control. Manager has to achieve results so that people will
continue to contribute to this organization. It takes neither genius nor heroism to be a
manager, but persistence, tough mindedness, hard work, intelligence, analytical ability,
tolerance and goodwill. Leadership is a psychodrama in which a brilliant lonely person
gains control of himself for controlling others. Managers and leaders are different kind of
people. They differ in motivation, personal history and in how they think and act. An
effective manager not only requires changing leadership styles but should have :
• Good verbal communication with good listening power
• Manage time and stress
• Managing individual decisions
• Recognizing defining and solving problems
• Motivating and influencing others
• Delegating
• Setting goals and have vision
• Self awareness
• Team building
• Managing conflict
Today, how many leaders have imbibed such managerial quality for effectiveness?
Infact, today’s manager with great leadership quality will be more successful than just
being the leader. Let is see what differences can exist between a leader and a
manager.
Manager motivates and leader inspires
One of the major differences between a manager and a leader is that managers
are suppose to motivate so that people will work to achieve goals of the company. He
has to use all techniques to keep the people charged. He is always trying to put efforts
to keep people motivated. He is always giving credit where due, asking for inputs and
participation. He is always giving positive performance feedback.
The leader inspires others and therefore self-motivation plays an important tool
when inspiration influences others. I still remember as a small child many people
stopped eating rice on one day in a week at the behest of Late Lal Bahadur Shastri. He
inspired people resulting in self-motivation. Self-motivation is the best form of
motivation. If a manager can imbibe the "inspiration quality" he can become more
effective. He can manage, motivate a self-directed team better than a team which
requires his constant attention. Therefore, manager will be more effective if he not only
motivates others but also inspires them. Mr. Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy, Azim Premji
are great "Managerial Leaders". This is the need of the hour in facing competition. This
quality will enable the organization to excel. He is also an example to others. There is
"no-dichotomy" or split personality. The openness, transparent behavior brings the
people to a close knit family. No wonder, team becomes like a "fist" and not individual
fingers of different sizes. Will such organizations go down? Never!
Manager has subordinates and leader has followers
Manager involves combination of people and ideas interacting to establish
strategies and making decisions. They motivate, reinforce, discipline or punish, manage
conflict, recruit people or train them in order to achieve objective. A manager requires
persistence, tough mindedness, hard work, intelligence and analytical ability to manage
people. He cannot tolerate chaos and lack of structures. Managers seek order and
control and are almost compulsively addicted to disposing of problem even before they
understand their potential significance.
Leader influences others, evoking expectation and establishing specific desire
and objective which determine the direction a business takes. The net result of this
influence change the way people think about what is desirable, possible and necessary.
Followers have complete faith in their leader and are willing to do any thing without
accepting any reward. They have faith in him. Knowledge, the satvik character
influences his followers.
Manager, if he develops the satvic and knowledge as a base to influence people,
can become a good "Managerial Leader". Infact, sometime back in Walter Bushrel – a
pharmaceutical company, when Mr. Saxena left the organization to start Elder
Pharmaceutical in 1980 even the peon left the company to be the part of Elder. Today,
there are some managers who have developed "Managerial Leadership". Recently,
President of Alkem, Mr. Guha joined Wander and took away 150 people along with him.
Wander is a smaller company compared to Alkem. People left so that they can be with
Mr. Guha. These qualities help the manager to perform better.
Manager is a boss and a leader is a guru:
Manager influences people due to power, as he is the boss. Boss is always right.
Leader influences through his sound knowledge. Manager is more interested in gaining
power. Higher the power, greater is the influencing ability. Manager energizes his
people through seat of command. Many times he makes the decision and announces it,
or he may sell decision or he presents ideas and invites questions in order to take
decision or he presents tentative decisions subject to change or presents problems and
gets suggestion and makes decision or allows the group to take decisions under certain
limitations. Many times manager aims to shift balance of power towards an acceptable
solution as a compromise among conflicting values.
Leader influences through his knowledge, which is more convincing to others.
They are active instead of reactive, shaping ideas instead of responding to them. The
influence a leader exerts in altering moods, evoking images and expectation and in
establishing specific desires and objectives determines the direction a business takes.
The net result of this influence change the way people think about what is desirable,
possible and necessary.
 Can a manager not imbibe this quality? Mr. Narayan Murthy is a managerial
leader because of good quality of "Guru" he has imbibed both the quality of guru and
boss.
Manager pushes and the leader pulls his people
Manager has to complete the task in a well-defined time. Therefore, he has to
push and cajole his people to complete their task. He has to plan and control different
activities. An organization is a system with logic of its own and all the weight of tradition
and inertia. Hence, manager has to do lot of pushing.
Manager and leaders are very different kind of people. They differ in motivation,
personal history and in how they think and act. Leader develops fresh approaches to
long-standing problems and open issue to new options. Leader very often projects their
ideas into activities, which excite people and bring them to him. He has the quality of
mastering others.
Managers too can develop pull approach if develops rapport, good
communication, build consensus, see things from others people perspective, be
persuasive, develop good listening power and give right direction. A managerial leaders
will be more effective as he not only pulls but also pushes. In today’s environment, this
is required and is the need of hour for many organizations.
Attitude towards goal by managers and leaders :
Managers tend to adopt impersonal if not passive attitude toward goals.
Managerial goals arise out of necessities rather than desires. Leaders are active rather
than reactive. Leaders adopt a personal and active attitude toward goals. The influence
a leader exerts in alternative moods, evoking images and expectations and in
establishing specific desires and objectives determines the direction a business takes.
The net result of this influence changes the way people think about what is desirable,
possible and necessary. A leader is a visionary. Manager with a vision can be a golden
asset. How many managers have vision? Why companies are not doing well? They lack
such visionary managers.
Manager controls & leader empowers
Managers seek order and control and are almost compulsively addicted to
disposing of problems even before they understand their potential significance.
Managers see themselves as conservators and regulators. He has to be effective in
control measures, as today he cannot survive due to changing environment and
different life style of people.
Leader empowers people and gets the work done. Empowerment can lead to
greater commitment, which goes much ahead of self-gain. This selfless approach leads
to better productivity from people. Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri are good examples who
empowered people. Computer revolution by Rajiv Gandhi is typical example of
empowerment.
Managers should imbibe both qualities. This will enable the managers to perform
better. Control and empowerment go together depending upon the people. An effective
usage of two together will enable the managers to perform better.
Today Manager’s role has undergone change. A mesh of managerial qualities with
leadership ability will be the key to success of managers in today’s environment. We do
not need managers only but Managerial Leaders.