Leadership vs. management

In 1977 a debate rose from a newly released article by Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik, with the title “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”. The article created discord in the business schools, and the study of leadership and management has not been the same since. Zaleznik argued that managers are all about taking a path of stability and control, while trying to resolve problems, which they might not know the significance of. He also argues that managers focus on how to decide, not what decision to make. Leaders on the other hand embraces chance, even if it comes with disorder and without structure. In 1990 John P. Kotter published the article “What Leaders Really Do” to address the article by Zaleznik and the arguments that he makes. Kotter argues that leadership is not something mystical or something only few people can do, and neither can it be claimed that leadership is anything more than management. Kotter though agrees with Zaleznik, that management is about control and stability while leadership is about embracing chaos, where Kotter puts it as “Management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change” [1]. Looking at the terms on a project base there would typically assign a project manager to manage the project, who is assigned to work towards a certain goal of the project but sticking within the frames set. Basically, a project manager is assigned to do administrative work, to make sure that the project runs as planned. During a project the project manager or a colleague can act as a leader of the project, if finding themselves being an expert on the area or as someone who is good at motivating people. There would not be assigned a leader for a project, but one can appear if needed or if someone possesses leading skills.

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