Leadership Case

Abstract

Are Project Managers the Project Leaders? And which resource is more important in the long run? Managers and leaders can be the same person in a business environment context but they can also be different people. In either situation both the manager and leader has various and different roles to fulfill. The operations environment and the project implementation environment are different. How are the various roles affected by the project implementation environment?

Introduction: Leaders versus Managers in Project Management

Are Project Managers prepared to be Leaders? And which resource more important in the long run? Is there even a difference between a project leader and a project manager?

According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. Therefore, a project manager is in a leadership position. However, although a project manager is in a leadership position, a project leader may not be in a management position.

A project leader possesses the vision to inspire and motivate teams, develops people to be more effective contributors, understands how their work fits into the bigger picture and makes the difficult decisions when necessary. In this role, it is the project leader's responsibility to balance the storm of emotions that surface from trying to meet key milestones to issues that result in project delays.

The differences between a manager and a leader are emphasized in a project implementation environment. A project environment imposes different constraints on employees and staff than an operational environment.

Project implementation consists of various processes. During each of these processes there are roles and responsibilities that a manager must fulfill, that a leader must fulfill, or that both a manager and a leader must fulfill.

Leaders and Managers

"People are required to follow managers. They choose to follow leaders." (Bennis, 1989)

"Leaders are people oriented, whereas managers are task oriented. Leaders inspire, whereas managers organize." (Veal, 2004)

A manager makes sure those workers are well-trained, motivated, rested and that they know what they're supposed to do next. The manager does the same thing with the tools and the machinery; making sure that they're working correctly and that the workers are able to use them efficiently and safely.

On the other hand, a leader makes sure that the road is going in the right direction before the construction begins. That leader also monitors conditions in new situations to ensure that the road under construction is still the correct one and is still going in the right direction.

A leader's authority is innate in their approach. There are five distinct characteristics of leadership. Leadership is neither good nor bad. It is not bounded within one's sphere of authority. Finally, leadership is not only about change. It is always local. Leadership is neither acquired nor inborn, so everyone can exert it. (Sardais and Miller, 2011)

Simply put, managers are charged with producing and maintaining proper procedures and order. Leaders, on the other hand, facilitate change in production. However, both managers and leaders show a willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the project organization in different capacities.

Both managers and leaders take on a willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the project.

Project Environment

If you type "leader" or "manager" into any search engine, you will enudated with a virtual mound of information by numerous authors. However, leadership, management, and even team building, while all closely allied, are actually fairly different in the project environment business context. Considering the extent of management literature published in recent years, it might be thought that this is no longer an issue. However, few writers actually take a close look at management and leadership in the project environment.

Operational works are done to achieve business goals, whereas projects are executed to start new business objectives. One or more projects can be executed to obtain a business objective. Therefore, operations and projects have few intersecting points. Basically, projects are means of executing those activities that cannot be addressed within the organization's normal operations limit. (PMBOK® Guide)

There are defining differences between a project and operations. A project is temporary while operations have more permanence. Projects have definite beginnings and endings while operations are repetitive. Traditionally, projects are concerned with budgets, while operations are concerned with profit margins. (PMBOK® Guide)

Consequently, some of the current concepts of leadership and attributes required of the leader of an enterprise need to be carefully rethought when applied in the project context.

Project Process

Leadership is defined as "Development of a clear and complete system of expectations in order to identify, evoke and use the strengths of all resources in the organization - the most important of which is people." (Batton, 1991) Which is true, but it has already been shown above, that operations and projects are inherently different. In defining a project leader, John Naisbit probably came closer. "An ability to attract followers..., ...a clear destination, and ...a timetable." (???)

To understand the difference, it is necessary to examine the project processes and requirements that occur throughout the project life cycle. A summary of project management and leadership responsibilities can be condensed into four processes. The four processes are: (1) creating an agenda, (2) developing a team, (3) execution of the agenda, and (4) evaluation of the outcomes.

For each of the four processes, leaders and managers have different functional roles. In the first process, creating an agenda, manager's design and set predictable outcomes. This is where the map of the future is laid out. Leaders set the actual direction and create the strategies for the following the "map."

When developing the team, the manager fulfills the actual staffing requirements; interviewing, analyzing the resumes and backgrounds of the applicants. The leader actually makes the staff a