Looking Beyond the Horizon

    

 I have been thinking a lot lately about the difference between managers and leaders.  Both of these roles are important and share some characteristics, primarily the goal of getting things done.  Yet, there are some very important differences.  Today, I wanted to muse a bit on the differences in vision.
     Managers are by definition very task oriented.  There are given a goal by a higher manager, and that goal is the driving force behind what they work to achieve using the assets available, i.e. employees, budget, time, materials, etc.  The objective is to finish the work that must be done in order to accomplish the goal within the set time parameters, be that an hour, a day, a year, or whatever the time limit is.  This is one of those areas where there is some overlap with the qualities of a good leader.  Getting something done.  However, as relates to vision, the manager sees only the project and those items that effect it's positive completion.  By it's very nature, this means the vision of the manager is short, reaching only to the end of the project.  Sometimes, especially in today's workplace, the manager may be juggling a variety of projects, by the vision he is restricted to needs to extend only to the end of any given project.  Project done, vision shifts.  It is rare indeed that the manager can afford to broaden his vision to encompass the greater ramifications of any project.  The manager's job is to accomplish the task at hand with the resources available by the project deadline and then move on to the next project.
     Leaders cannot afford to have this kind of short range vision.  Although a leader too has tasks to accomplish with given constraints that are similar to those of a manager, the vision of the leader needs to reach far beyond any one project or goal.  The leader must be aware of the broader implications of any particular project; how each project piece fits into the jigsaw puzzle of greater goals and a larger sense of what the success or failure of any particular project means to the larger goals of the organization or team.  This is why it is important that leaders have a longer vision.  The failure of one part of the puzzle does not mean overall failure, in most cases.
     Whereas the failure of a particular accomplishment may mean a goal is missed or a particular level is not achieved during a set time, the leader sees that the failure is often temporary and that perhaps the overall mission has been enhanced by the totality of the goals set in the long range vision.   In other words, a goal may have been missed this year, but the feasibility for success during the next cycle have been enhanced by the overall performance of the organization or team.  Leaders can afford such vision, managers (for the most part) cannot.
     In the operation of all organizations or teams, both leadership and management are crucial and often overlap.  In most cases, however, the role of each is in the length and breadth of vision.