Leadership vs. Management: Is One a Subset of the Other?

Contact centres rely heavily on leadership and management, but what is the relationship between them?

Nick asked our LinkedIn Community of industry professionals ‘Leadership vs Management – Is one a subset of the other?’ It’s an interesting topic and we wanted to share the results of the poll with you.

There were responses from 362 industry professionals, with ‘Leadership First’ being the top selection with 50% of respondents choosing this. ‘Management First’ was the least popular choice, with only 4% selecting this response.

Overall, the principle of leadership is a clear winner, with 29% of respondents stating that ‘Management = Subset of Leadership’ compared to just 17% claiming that ‘Leadership = Subset of Management’.

Despite this, it’s clear that 46% of participants believe that there is an inherent connection between management and leadership, and that they exist in parallel to each other.

We have also looked through the comments to discover additional insights on why poll participants chose certain options and we’ve put some of these together for you:

A True Leader Is a Great Manager

Anyone can manage. However, you must be a ‘True Leader’ to be a great manager. You can manage without being a leader but will have high attrition rates, and missed opportunities, and it will eventually catch up with you.

You must be a ‘True Leader’ to be a great manager.

Leadership is about being a human first, about understanding your direct reports, and their direct reports. If you don’t see people as human first, then you are just a manager.

It is expensive to acquire new staff, and once you have them, you need to understand the opportunities that they bring to the table; if you just see another FTE, then good luck.

Thanks to Adam

What You Are Is Defined by Your Management Style

What you are is defined by your management style.

I would not want people who tend towards ‘manage’ as employees or bosses. Leadership is a management style that redefines who you should be and how you should coach.

Thanks to Eric

Both Are Equally Important

Leadership drives continuous improvement and development.

Management implements and maintains standards to stabilize and support that improvement, preventing backslide.

Both are equally important.

Thanks to Zak

Leadership and Management Are Completely Different

Leadership and management are two completely different things. A leader (true leader) needs also to manage, but a manager cannot lead. Because both styles are too different.

Thanks to Chris

For more great articles on contact centre management and leadership, read these next:

• 23 Things Every Contact Centre Manager Needs to STOP Doing in 2023
• Team Leadership: What Makes a Great Leader?
• How to Develop Leadership in the Contact Centre