Organisational framework

Managers and leaders have many different qualities but there are definite strengths and weaknesses of both. Leaders are good at stirring people’s emotions, taking them in new directions; both good and bad, raising their expectations and leaders tend to suffer from neuroses and have a tendency toward self-absorption and preoccupation. Managers are good at maintaining status quo and adding stability and order to our culture.
In 1977, Henry Mintzberg developed a more advanced framework to classify ten distinct managerial roles under the headings of interpersonal, informational and decisional. He surmised that the managers role was classified by pace, interruptions, brevity, fragmentation of task and that managers worked within organisations constraints and therefore that management was more of an art that a teachable science. Therefore one could argue that Mintzberg observations lead one to believe that management skills maybe inherent in nature much as John Adairs’ theory on leadership.
Leadership can be seen as a subset of management in the sense that management is broader in scope as it is concerned with behavioural and as well as none behavioural activities. As well as developing strategies and providing resources to achieve objectives the manager as leader has to motivate people to do it. (Hannagan.T.1995) We can see these qualities demonstrated in high profile business leaders as managers such as Richard Branson or Anita Roddick.

Between them have led their individual companies to become multimillion pound empires. Richard Branson started life as a dyslexic schoolboy who did terribly on the standard IQ test but had an amazing ability to energise the ambition of others. His talents emerged in the late 1960s when he started his own student newspaper that focused on students from a number of schools but not the schools themselves.
This business was started with a 4 donation from his mother. In 1970, the government abolished the retail price maintenance agreement but none of the big stores discounted records. Branson saw the opportunity to sell records cheaply to students by running adverts in his magazine. The orders flooded in for both records and subscription to the magazine. Richard rounded up the staff of “Student”, leased an old shoe shop and opened their first record shop named “Virgin”. From these small beginnings Richard Branson is now head of 150 companies that carry the Virgin name. Branson has no giant head office, very few board meetings, and keeps his enterprise small and relies on empowering people’s ideas to fuel success.
Anita Roddick as Richard Branson came from a working class background serving tables after school in her mothers’ caf� in Littlehampton. At an early age her leadership ability was noted by the teachers at her Catholic school. After college Anita became a drama/music teacher. Her love of travel soon saw her working as a researcher for the International Labour Organisation. During this time she travelled extensively in the poorer countries of the world. In 1976, Anita opened her first Body Shop shop in Brighton; with no business experience she developed her own philosophy:
“We have a basic understanding that to run this business you don’t have to know anything. Skill is not the answer, neither is money. What you need is optimism, humanism, enthusiasm, intuition, curiosity, love, humour, magic and fun and that secret ingredient – euphoria”. This philosophy saw her develop Body Shop into a worldwide brand. This demonstrates that with gifted leadership ability it is possible to develop an empire without formal managerial training.
You do not need to be a high profile personality to be a good leader it is possible to find leadership skills displayed in any sports team. You will usually find that one individual will emerge as a natural leader and the other team members will follow their direction. In conclusion, this essay demonstrates the difference between a manager and a leader. Highlights the fact that in many ways leadership is an inherent ability which can be developed but the basic characteristics need to be there in the first place. Good managers also need leadership skills in order to motivate and direct their workforce and also require many other skills in order to cope with the fragmented daily routines of business, but do tend to work within an organisational framework.