Managers and leaders are important for a dev team. The two crucial roles direct dev teams through complex technical projects with guidance and support. They ensure that teams successfully navigate through challenges, stay aligned with goals, and reach organizational objectives effectively. While managers meticulously plan, organize, and coordinate, leaders take up the role of inspiring, innovating, and influencing. American writer, Tom Peters, articulates it perfectly:
“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.”
Let’s explore the debate of manager vs. leader.
A manager is a professional responsible for overseeing a team’s operations. An effective manager gives a structured and stable approach. They provide a solid foundation for teamwork and delivering value to the organization. Effective managers possess a diverse array of skills that allow them to execute their responsibilities.
Decision-making
Organization skills
Anticipating & managing risks
Managers are tasked with making decisions that are pivotal to the success of the projects. Their decision-making process is rooted in policies, guidelines, and organizational objectives. Managers make sure that all decisions, such as meeting scheduling and resource allocation, adhere to a structured plan.
Good managers are great at organizing. In the tech world, where multiple projects are happening at the same time, managers make sure the work is planned, goals are clear, and resources are used well. They do this by setting clear schedules, tracking tasks, and ensuring resources are utilized in a manner that maximizes efficiency.
Managers need to ensure that the team complies with established protocols and guidelines. Avoiding risks is key to keeping things stable, predictable, and running smoothly. Managers create and implement processes that minimize uncertainties and mitigate any potential risks. In this manner, projects remain unaffected by unforeseen challenges.
The key responsibilities of managers are:
Assigning tasks
Managing risks
Guiding the team
Resolving conflicts
Managing projects
Managing resources
Ensuring deadlines are met
Communicating with stakeholders
As with any role in top management, managers are faced with numerous challenges every single day. The most common challenges are:
Navigating team dynamics: Many dev teams comprise members with diverse personalities and backgrounds. Managing each member, maintaining harmony, and resolving conflicts can arise as challenges. Conversely, managers need to address the issue of women leaving the tech world.
Maintaining transparent communication: From communicating project details among the team members to updating stakeholders about the project’s progress, managers need to strive for clear and consistent communication. This is achieved by facilitating open channels for feedback and discussion.
Aligning team efforts with organizational objectives: Managers need to regularly review team performances and adjust strategies in order to ensure that the team efforts are in sync with the organizational goals.
A leader is an individual who guides a team toward achieving common goals. By offering a visionary and inspirational approach for leading the team, they pave the way for the team to follow. Effective leaders embody a wide range of skills that empower them to skillfully navigate through their duties and responsibilities.
Visionary thinking
Emotional intelligence
Adaptability
Effective leaders have the ability to foresee future scenarios and then create strategic pathways to achieve them. Once they have a clear vision, leaders influence and motivate the company, team, and stakeholders to follow their way.
Leaders are emotionally attuned to themselves. This is helpful in not only handling their own emotions but also understanding other people’s emotional states. In this manner, they are able to create meaningful relationships with people and foster a good work environment.
Leaders are emblems of guidance. People look up to them for direction. It is important for leaders to be adaptable and not get shaken by uncertainties. Especially during times of organizational change, leaders need to be ready to adjust strategies. Leaders need to be flexible in their approach during shifting situations and make sure that teams stay resilient in the face of challenges.
The key responsibilities of leaders are:
Crisis management
Setting a vision and strategies for the team
Fostering a conducive work environment
Communicating effectively with stakeholders
Making decisions based on organizational goals and objectives
Leaders are constantly navigating through a spectrum of obstacles and challenges, such as:
Managing team dynamics and conflicts: Team disputes and personality clashes can result in conflicts within the team and organization. Leaders must address interpersonal conflicts in order to foster team cohesion and a collaborative work environment.
Navigating through opposition: An organization is made of people with diverse perspectives who might not always agree on strategic or structural changes. Leaders need to deal with opposition, maintain harmony, and ensure that the changes are implemented smoothly.
Enhancing employee motivation: When teams are acknowledged for their work, it boosts their morale, productivity is improved and it fosters loyalty in them. A leader needs to make sure they recognize and thank their team members for their contributions to the organization’s success and growth.
A debate on manager vs. leader can only be settled by taking a look at the distinct ways the two roles bring holistic success to the organization.
Manager | Leader |
Implements the leader’s vision through organized and practical steps | Guides the company’s vision and plans for growth |
Ensures that the company’s goals are achieved through practical steps like resource allocation | Makes a strategy to push the company toward new growth by envisioning a future |
Breaks down goals into doable parts and organizes resources | Aligns and influences team members, focusing on the overall vision |
Focuses on the “how” and “when” for projects to make sure of timely and correct project execution | Explores the “what” and “why” for the company in order to seek an understanding of the authority |
Enables their team to align with changes and makes sure that protocols are followed | Implements changes and envisions new directions for the company |
Managers vs. leaders is a fundamental discussion in the tech world. Each role brings a unique value to the organization. While leaders provide vision and inspire innovation, managers make sure that the projects are executed smoothly and in a structured manner. Both roles, distinct yet interdependent, are essential for balancing objectives with organizational strategy.
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