Zaleznik Managers And Leaders Are They Different Analysis

In his essay, “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”, originally published in Harvard Business Review, Abraham Zaleznik’s comments “ It seems to me that business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists, and other creative thinkers than they do with managers.”(2004). Zaleznik’s observations provide an opportunity to review managerial and leadership functions, as well as to analyze the personality traits of creative thinkers, to look at their similarities and differences and how they fit into an organization.

Managers by virtue of the name itself, manage. They manage people, budgets, timelines, crises, projects and processes, and they are responsible for implementation, targets and results. Zaleznik (2004) writes, “It

Zaleznik (2004) comments, “Leaders tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure” as preferences that are in direct contrast to the analytical mindset of a manager. They do however, provide “inspiration, vision, and human passion (Zaleznik 2004)” to counter balance the managers approach. According to a study conducted by Stephen Las Marias (2016) and published in his article “What Makes a Great Leader” for SMT Magazine, the top four attributes of a great leader are: ability to inspire others, empowerment of employees, integrity, and clarity of vision. The ability to inspire others doesn’t happen because people are wowed by an idea or impressed with an action. They are inspired to tackle something because they are made to believe that they can succeed. A great leader will affirm that someone has a great idea, or validate the dream of accomplishment, or plant a seed to nurture; they will support, steer, and nourish. Next is the ability to provide empowerment to employees. Great leaders don’t really empower others, as people can only empower themselves, what they do is relinquish power and provide the opportunity for the employee to assume it. Great leaders understand that they don’t have all the answers, they understand that collaboration is the key to success, and they understand that a more equitable power dynamic is necessary to have continuous movement forward. The next attribute in a great leader is integrity. Integrity is of course a trait that needs to be demonstrated by everyone including managers, and as it is ranked third in the study, it is very important in the eyes of respondents. Having integrity is doing what you say, and saying what you do. It’s doing what’s right not just what’s right for the company, and means admitting