[Week 8] Leader vs Commander

Today’s IT business is focused on project-style work and requires certain assets like human resources, know-how, tools and effective management. I want to focus on the last one.  In my opinion the most important is the project manager’s role and his interactions with other team members and employees. I want to focus on his roles. Before that I would like to explain who the project manager is.

Who is the project manager? Let’s use the definition from Wikipedia : “A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution and closing of any project[…]” (source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_manager ). Usually the project manager is either outsourced from another company,  is a hired self-employed project manager or is chosen internally by the business owner of a project. The Project manager is responsible for the whole ( internal and external ) project its schedule, budget, business meetings with  subcontractors and end users. For better illustration of importance and roles of PM let’s use PRINCE2 Foundation-based project structure :

Project Board ( Business Owner, Development Owner, other

Project Manager

Project Management Office

Stream Manager

Team Leader

Team worker

I do believe that you now know the importance of the project manager in companies. Let’s move to the core of my article : Leader vs Commander as Project Manager archetype. Which is better? What differs them? What do they have in common? Let’s answer these questions.

Difference

The commander is a more autocratic style of management. He has mission, he has targets to achieve and he has resources to achieve goals. He does not care about emotions and needs of his subordinates but he isn’t a tyrant. The commander puts stress on plans, agreements and main schedule he prepared for his people. The commander is effective in business terms and in situations requiring cold blood.

The leader is an open person who treats his subordinates nearly equally  to himself. He doesn’t gives orders that are not suitable for any person. He puts needs of his team and emotions in front of business needs but it doesn’t mean that he is light-headed and unreasonable with his decisions. The leader has natural charisma to lead people to achieve his goals, he respects and identifies needs and emotions within team members and finds solutions to problems inside the team.

Similarities

Both of archetypes have one important similarity : realizing a project, although they have different ways to do it. The commander plans every move ahead. The leader creates a will to go forward inside his subordinates. There are many other things they have in common. They’re both focused on their teams. These are the main factors which are exactly the same. They both use all project-management and classical leadership and management techniques but they differ in style of usage. Generally the commander is like a war machine focused on a target and the leader can be compared to charismatic leaders of revolutions.

Winner?

Nobody J Both archetypes are perfect for certain situations. From my perspective and experience the Project Manager should be flexible but stable. So when you play the role of a leader you should become the commander for a while. It is important to be between them because your team members require both archetypes at the same time.

Questions:

1.       Based on your work experience, which archetype is the most popular in Polish companies?

2.       Which one do you prefer and why?

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_manager

Czesław Sikorski, Zachowania ludzi w organizacji