On Becoming a Leader: Difference Between a Leader and a Manager

The capability to engage others by creating a shared meaning, having a distinctive voice, having integrity, and having the capacity to adapt to situations, are the four vital competencies that all leaders possess described by Dr. Bennis within the introduction of his book's revised edition. In this essay, I would focus mainly on integrity mainly because of how most leaders and a lot of people know it is important, but are unsure of what exactly it means and how it translates in their actions and lives.

There are tons of definitions for integrity and personally, I believe it means standing for something greater than yourself. It is showing consistency for your actions—the ability to abide by your principles and values even in stressful situations. It is being upright and honest; the courage to speak the truth when the easy thing to do is just to remain silent.

For example, I know a lot of honor students who have cheated in exams. I have experienced knowing class officials who only act like a leader when the teachers and administrators are around. Soldiers are commanded to submit to their superiors and follow all of their orders but very few have the strength to say ‘no' when a superior asks them to do something that is against their code of values. Politicians make lots of promises during the candidacy period but do they actually deliver once they get elected?

Integrity, as Bennis points out, is not simply a character trait of leaders, but an ‘essential' one. Leaders without integrity are not leaders at all. Integrity is usually confused with character but there is a great difference between the two. You can either have good character, or bad character, but there is only one side to integrity. There is no such thing as ‘bad' integrity; if a leader does not possess it, he is a bad leader. Good leaders—those with integrity—on the other hand, have the knowledge and the ability to do what is right and do it at all times without having to spend many sleepless nights before coming to the right decision. "The manager does things right, the leader does the right thing" (Bennis, 2003, p. 45). In fact, early in Chapter 2, Bennis enumerates a number of ways by which leaders differ from managers.

According to Bennis (2003), managers copy while leaders are original. Managers practice administration; leaders practice innovation. Managers depend on their authority; leaders inspire trust. Managers accept and stick to the status quo while leaders challenge it; leaders lead people somewhere great.

On the whole, leaders are those who have mastered the ‘context' and managers are those who have surrendered to it. ‘Context' here is a description of the world—a world changing at a furious pace—that we experience at present. It refers to the uncertain, tumultuous, and unpredictable