Leaders are visionaries while managers are administrators

Per Plucknette (2014), leaders are visionaries while managers are administrators. The greatest discrepancy between leaders and managers is that leaders are visionaries where manager are administrators (Plunkett, 2014). It is possible to be a manager and a leader (Plunkett, 2014). Lots of administrators are not able to realize and adhere to company policy while at the same time understanding and appreciating the people they work with (Plunkett, 2014). The person who is a manager and a leader is able to understand both sides, company, and the people, and enable opportunities to meet the needs and goals of each. The ability to be both and a manger and a leader is not only desirable, but beneficial to the success of the company/business (Plunkett, 2014). For a manager, it is essential to have the better understandings of the talents and the special skills of their employees (Kotter et al., 2010). A manager leads by example, gains the respect of people in the company (Daft, 2013). Manager can be a great motivator (Daft, 2013). Employees not only see their manager as a manager but as a leader as well (Daft, 2013). A leader is an administrator, that supports a change and guides that change (Daft, 2013). This type of administrator promotes expansion in the workers careers (Daft, 2013). A leader is an administrator that uses resources needed for employees to grow professionally (Daft, 2013). It is possible for a manager to lead with leadership features in their behaviors (Plunkett, 2014).

One challenge posed by serving as a leader is crisis (pandemic for example). When crisis is happening, leaders are trying to control the situation. Bring out the best from the employees is the most critical task for the leaders to achieve (Daft, 2013). During pandemic, leaders had to find ways to help employees to deal with that in some way and continue to have a vision for a company. Managing refers to developing the pertinent skills, prioritization, time management, strategic thinking, and decision making (Plunkett, 2014). Also, during pandemic, the challenge that managers faced is how to change their business to online business over night (at schools for example).

References

Daft, R. L. (2013). Management (11th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 9781285068657

Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S. (2010). The heart of change: real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.