Competition leads one to realise that to survive in today's business environment, it is essential for companies to understand the difference between a manager and a leader. Once this difference is realised, it becomes easier for companies to create better management practices and organisational structures.

World over, organisations are switching over to a human resources philosophy centred on the positive notion of creating an enabled and empowered workforce that is self-motivated and can creatively chart out its own strategy for the attainment of the ends set by its leaders. This is in stark contrast to earlier models that emphasised an artificial, one-size-fits-all approach to human resources problems. The emphasis now is to eschew policies that result in behaviour patterns based on fear and other negative emotions.

Today, most companies understand the fact that employees perform best when they feel comfortable with the work environment. For employees to attain their full potential, it is essential for leaders to make them feel cared for, nurture their talent and motivate them constantly as they go about their tasks. It is not enough for companies to have managers who focus on merely achieving the organisation's goals, rather, they must have leaders who can motivate, guide and drive their teams to ever-greater accomplishments.

Good managers use techniques, tools and methodologies that are best among contemporary practices to achieve set goals. Great leaders, on the other hand, know that delegation of authority and encouraging employees to generate ideas of their own go a long way in not just achieving set goals but in creating a perennially successful organisation.