Leadership and Management: What's the Difference?

Dr. Mike Ryan has been at the forefront of managing acute global health risks for nearly 25 years. He served as Deputy Director General of Emergencies.

Administration

consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to achieve an objective.

Leadership, on the other hand, refers to a person's ability to influence, motivate and allow others to contribute to the success of the organization. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control. Management is about controlling or directing people and resources in accordance with the principles or values established by the organization in which they work. To produce the best results, managers monitor budgets, contracts, projects and processes and ensure that resources are well organized and applied. That said, good managers must strive to be good leaders, and good leaders often need management skills to be effective. So who is a manager? A manager does more than acquire and exercise power.

They use management skills to plan, build, and direct organizational systems to accomplish missions and objectives. Managers generally ensure that daily operations run smoothly according to pre-set parameters. They also ensure that important work is done and done well. Managers focus on meeting objectives, often with a controlled approach. Management is not leadership, but that doesn't make it a minor role in an organization.

A manager can succeed without being an inspiration or a paradigm-shifting thought leader. Similarly, a leader can be successful but less skilled in managing people. Perhaps the most famous example of this was Steve Jobs, the tech genius behind Apple, who had a reputation for being a difficult boss. When it comes to project management, a good manager is able to set clear objectives, plan thoroughly, develop standard procedures and processes, monitor results against plans, and take corrective action as needed. Leadership and management are necessary competencies that add institutional value. Neither is higher or lower than the other; they are simply different.

We manage things like programs, budgets, contracts, projects and processes, but we need to lead people. The idea of “managing” people sounds degrading in the 21st century. A lot of us wear both hats, but we need to understand the difference in order to flex properly in and between the two roles. Leadership is an important part of a successful infection prevention and control (IPC) program. These skills can affect positive change in an IPC team, other leaders, and healthcare staff, and lead to sustainable IPC programs. To develop a sustainable program, IPC leaders must have good project management and risk assessment skills and an understanding of implementation strategies.

We will also learn the importance of developing appropriate education and training for healthcare workers in your facilities. Implementing systemic change is a challenge. With these leadership skills, you will gain a foundation that will enable you to build an effective IPC team, successfully manage IPC projects, and develop a sustainable IPC program. Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and drive the group's efforts towards achieving goals. We can try to influence and shape those decisions and behaviors through leadership, but it's not appropriate to try to direct and control them; this is what management is supposed to do with “things”.Chapter 3 will delve into the leadership style present in organizations, along with how leaders use power to motivate people. Leadership skills are used to focus on potential change by setting direction and aligning, motivating and inspiring people. If you are currently or have been one of my colleagues, clients, students or in one of my leadership workshops, I'm sure you've already heard this.

Leadership qualities include the ability to attract colleagues based on integrity and determination. A word that is commonly associated with leadership is “motivation” - as in the ability to motivate people to perform tasks. Dr. Fall represented WHO in Mali in the midst of the political and humanitarian crisis when WHO needed strong leadership and experience in dealing with complex emergencies. Ihekweazu trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has more than 25 years of experience working in senior public health and leadership positions at several national public health institutes including NCDC (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control), South African National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), UK Department of Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of Germany. As a crucial component of management remarkable leadership behavior emphasizes creating an environment in which each employee develops their potentials and excels.

Decades of debate have followed as leadership and management as distinct but complementary practices have been compared contrasted and examined through countless theories frameworks lenses. The level of leadership is based on the social group relationship that is present to formulate a vision direction for the group. If you want to hire a leader define the competencies for that position based on what leadership is all about - its ability to influence encourage others towards success. Leadership is not about power or control; it's about influencing others towards achieving goals while management focuses on controlling things like programs budgets contracts projects processes etcetera. In conclusion both leadership & management are necessary competencies that add institutional value neither higher nor lower than each other they are simply different yet complementary practices.