MARKETING
Key Differences You Should Know
We often hear the terms “leaders” and “managers” used interchangeably. However, there are key differences in how each operates.
In this article, we’ll dive into what those differences are and how you can leverage each one within an organization.
What is the difference between leadership and management?
The easiest way to explain the difference is that leaders inspire while managers oversee. Leaders work to motivate and encourage their teams to achieve common goals, whereas managers typically focus on organizing and executing tasks.
What’s most interesting is that every leader has likely taken on a managerial role. However, not every manager has been a leader.
This is because someone typically steps into a manager role when there’s a need within your organization. Anyone who can meet those needs will succeed as a manager.
However, a leader requires a different skill set and can emerge naturally at any point in an organization’s growth – in fact, a leader doesn’t need a title that specifies it.
Let’s break down the key differences below.
Vision vs. Execution
As a leader, you are responsible for setting the vision. This means the ability to see beyond where you currently are and imagine a future that goes beyond expectations.
Meanwhile, a manager will focus on executing that vision and figuring out the key processes to get there.
Leaders are able to see the big picture and develop a strategy for how to get there, whereas managers typically break down those goals into smaller, actionable tasks.
People vs. Processes
Another key distinction between leaders and managers is that leaders focus on people while managers focus on processes.
Leaders are there to inspire, motivate, and nurture the people they work with, often regarded as mentors to those they lead. To do so, they invest a lot of time in understanding their employees’ passions and values.
After all, that’s what’s going to ensure the success of the company.
Managers look at the processes that will deliver the desired outcomes based on business objectives. While they do pay attention to the people, that’s often not their main priority.
Leadership vs. Management Skills
Leadership skills are typically more soft skills-based, whereas management skills tend to be more hard or technical skills.
Common leadership skills include decision-making, communication, relationship building, and strategic thinking.
Top management skills include:
- Planning and budgeting
- Task allocation
- Creativity
- Problem-solving
Leadership vs. Management Characteristics
Both leadership and management involve setting a direction for others to follow.
However, leaders typically have more of a long-term vision while managers focus on the here-and-now.
Leaders also need to be able to build relationships and trust with their team, whereas managers may not need as strong of relationships since they are focused on task execution.
Characteristics of leaders include:
- Identifying and nurturing talent.
- Pushing the envelope of what is possible.
- Taking calculated risks.
- Championing employees.
On the other hand, some common management characteristics include:
- Maintaining the status quo.
- Detecting and addressing inefficiencies.
- Mitigating risks.
- Getting the job done.
Leadership vs. Management Examples
Let’s say you’re a project manager at an advertising agency.
Your daily tasks might involve overseeing client projects, delegating tasks to your team, and ensuring that deadlines are met.
Meanwhile, the agency owner might be focused on bringing in new clients, working on long-term strategy, and building relationships with other businesses.
Both roles have overlap in their responsibilities and skills. However, their priorities differ greatly.
If you think too long-term, you’ll never figure out what it takes today to get there. If you think too short-term, you’ll lack the big picture that tells you what you’re working toward.
There’s often the implication that leadership is better than management. The truth is, every organization needs a good balance of both to thrive.
MARKETING
Trends in Content Localization – Moz
Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.
Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.
Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.
MARKETING
How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy
MARKETING
More promotions and more layoffs
For martech professionals salaries are good and promotions are coming faster, unfortunately, layoffs are coming faster, too. That’s according to the just-released 2024 Martech Salary and Career Survey. Another very unfortunate finding: The median salary of women below the C-suite level is 35% less than what men earn.
The last year saw many different economic trends, some at odds with each other. Although unemployment remained very low overall and the economy grew, some businesses — especially those in technology and media — cut both jobs and spending. Reasons cited for the cuts include during the early years of the pandemic, higher interest rates and corporate greed.
Dig deeper: How to overcome marketing budget cuts and hiring freezes
Be that as it may, for the employed it remains a good time to be a martech professional. Salaries remain lucrative compared to many other professions, with an overall median salary of $128,643.
Here are the median salaries by role:
- Senior management $199,653
- Director $157,776
- Manager $99,510
- Staff $89,126
Senior managers make more than twice what staff make. Directors and up had a $163,395 median salary compared to manager/staff roles, where the median was $94,818.
One-third of those surveyed said they were promoted in the last 12 months, a finding that was nearly equal among director+ (32%) and managers and staff (30%).
Extend the time frame to two years, and nearly three-quarters of director+ respondents say they received a promotion, while the same can be said for two-thirds of manager and staff respondents.
Dig deeper: Skills-based hiring for modern marketing teams
Employee turnover
In 2023, we asked survey respondents if they noticed an increase in employee churn and whether they would classify that churn as a “moderate” or “significant” increase. For 2024, given the attention on cost reductions and layoffs, we asked if the churn they witnessed was “voluntary” (e.g., people leaving for another role) or “involuntary” (e.g., a layoff or dismissal). More than half of the marketing technology professionals said churn increased in the last year. Nearly one-third classified most of the churn as “involuntary.”
Men and Women
This year, instead of using average salary figures, we used the median figures to lessen the impact of outliers in the salary data. As a result, the gap between salaries for men and women is even more glaring than it was previously.
In last year’s report, men earned an average of 24% more than women. This year the median salary of men is 35% more than the median salary of women. That is until you get to the upper echelons. Women at director and up earned 5% more than men.
Methodology
The 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey is a joint project of MarTech.org and chiefmartec.com. We surveyed 305 marketers between December 2023 and February 2024; 297 of those provided salary information. Nearly 63% (191) of respondents live in North America; 16% (50) live in Western Europe. The conclusions in this report are limited to responses from those individuals only. Other regions were excluded due to the limited number of respondents.
Download your copy of the 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey here. No registration is required.
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