All Managers are Leaders. Is it?

There was this news item that I read a couple of years back. It was about an incident of major fire in a chemical factory.

During that incident, material worth millions was destroyed and it took 8 fire fighting whole night to douse the fire. However, the highlight of this tragic incident was a Janitor, who single-handedly saved lives of many and helped avoid a major catastrophe.

As the fire broke out, manager was informed immediately and he in-turn ordered complete evacuation of the factory and he himself rushed out to safety. However Hero of the day, The Janitor, realized that there is large amount of chemical flowing in various tubes and in mixers. Boilers were also operational. Storage tanks have tonnes of chemicals stored in them... All this and uncontrolled fire would lead to a major accident and might lead to loss of Human life and other serious losses...

Seeing the situation and its potential escalation, this Janitor rushed to switch off the power from the mains. Simultaneously he instructed the electrician and few other coworkers to turn off the knobs of Storage and boiler tanks. He further made the housekeeping staff to switch on all the firefighting equipment. Atlast, he and his band of brothers ensured that all the factory roads are cleaned up for fire fighting trucks to rush in smoothly. 

A major Hazard was averted.

Question arises, What made this Janitor to drive himself and his fellow coworkers to do what they did?

He were not officially in charge. He was not instructed by any of his seniors either. Infact his Manager instructed all to evacuate immediately. What made him do what he did?

Leadership and Management

Most people think of a Leader as someone with a vision who effectively communicates that vision to others, who then help the leader achieve the vision. A leader is good at defining goals and inspiring others to achieve those goals. A leader is someone whom others trust and often admire.

How does a Leader differ from Manager?

The classic textbook definition of a Manager is someone who gets things done through other people. This means the manager is responsible for accomplishing goals by making sure that other people carry out the action steps and tasks designed to produce the desired outcomes.

Do you see mush of difference between Leaders & Manager?

In the above story of Chemical factory. While Manager was Manager, Janitor came up as a Leader:

• He foresaw.
• He did not panic or display any knee-jerk and abrupt reactions
• He visualized with clarity planned.
• Gave clear instructions on goals, actions, timelines and end result.
• Inspired a group of unrelated co-workers into action which was not normal for them, and achieving the ultimate goal of avoiding a catastrophe.

Many managers do not have skills or wisdom to get things done through other people. They become dictating bosses or paper shufflers or political creatures whose primary goal is to protect and preserve their own jobs and further their careers by pleasing their own bosses.

Above is the precise reasons, why much of time and energy is devoted to develop leadership abilities in managers.

Hence, While Managers are Managers, GOOD MANAGERS are GOOD LEADERS too..