Over the past decades, the notions of leadership and management have become so interdependent that some people consider them as almost synonymous in meaning. Hence, to understand whether a manager should be a leader, it is necessary to define these terms. The notion of management denotes the process of coordination and organization within a specific unit or team to reach a set target (Schermerhorn et al., 2020). That is, when coordinating both people and processes they perform, a manager has to obtain a set of soft and hard skills to have enough authority and competence within the team. The term “leadership,” in its turn, stands for one’s ability to influence others and encourage them to act in a certain way (Dugan, 2017). Considering the following definitions, it would be safe to assume that both leadership and management have now become co-dependent in terms of the modern business paradigm.
However, when thinking about the questions stated in the title, it is of crucial importance to note that while these notions play a significant role when united in symbiosis, their interdependence is not exhaustive. It means that the manager should be a leader to be successful. Once the leadership skills are absent, managers do not lose their positions, but the quality of their world may significantly deteriorate. Vice versa, a good leader has the potential of becoming a manager, but the lack of organizational and professional competence cannot be fully replaced by the ability to influence or guide people. Over the last years, some scholars have voiced their opinion that the 21st century does not draw a line between management and leadership (Azad et al., 2017). Although such an assumption has the right to exist in society, the most appropriate answer to the question should not be radical. A manager should be a leader, and a leader can become a manager, but they do not obtain these qualities by default.
References
Azad, N., Anderson, H. G., Brooks, A., Garza, O., O’Neil, C., Stutz, M. M., & Sobotka, J. L. (2017). Leadership and management are one and the same. American Journal of PharmaceuticalEeducation, 81(6), 1-5.
Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.
Schermerhorn Jr, J. R., Bachrach, D. G., & Wright, B. (2020). Management. John Wiley & Sons.