The characteristics of leaders and managers

You have just seen how Kotter associated different characteristics to leaders and managers. Lunenburg (2011) looked at leadership and management as different ends of a spectrum, suggesting that a person (or business executive) does things or conducts themselves in a different way, depending on if they tend towards leadership or management. His ideas are summarised below:

Category	Leadership	Management
Thinking process	Focuses on people Looks outward	Focuses on things Looks inward
Goal setting	Articulates a vision Creates the future Sees the forest	Executes plans Improves the present Sees the trees
Employee relations	Empowers colleagues Trusts and develops	Controls Subordinates Directs and coordinates
Operation	Does the right things Creates change Serves subordinates	Does things right Manages change Serves superordinates
Governance	Uses influence Uses conflict Acts decisively	Uses authority Avoids conflict Acts responsibly

---

References

_{Lunenburg, F.C. (2011) ‘Leadership versus Management: A Key Distinction – at Least in Theory’. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration 14 (1), 2}