There have always been differences, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, digital media is swamped by leadership thoughts and advice from content creators of various disciplines. As I watch a few, I can’t help but wonder why very few of them set the context before jumping into the leadership dos and don’ts. 

Leadership is a multi-faceted discipline that varies across industries and organizational sizes. In a large corporation, a leader is normally a salaried representative who has grown through a system shared by subordinates. However, leaders of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are often the owners and have started or inherited the businesses. Therefore, while both types of leaders have a lot of contributions to the progression of their team, it is important to understand that the role of a leader in a large corporation is very different from that of a leader in an MSME.

A corporate leader may operate in a large-scale organization with a global or national presence, giving them a wide scope of operations that they often manage through multiple business units, departments, or divisions. An MSME leader, on the other hand, operates in a smaller-scale organization with limited geographic reach. They are typically responsible for managing a single business unit or department. The outlook of both may be different. I will not be surprised if one talks of a hands-on management style while the other advocates a passive approach.

MSME leaders often have limited resources compared with their corporate counterparts. They are more frugal and strategic in resource allocation, often motivating the team members to wear multiple hats and finding creative solutions to achieve the desired outcomes. Along with managing significant budgets and resources, corporate leaders have a large team of employees, extensive infrastructure, and substantial financial assets. They must make strategic decisions about where to allocate resources to optimize the outcomes. Here, we may also find a process-driven approach to eliminate redundancies and ensure every task is in sync with the others. Deviations may be counterproductive unless communicated collaboratively.

Corporate leaders engage with various stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, suppliers, regulators, and the broader community. One of their primary tasks is to resolve conflicts between these groups and ensure that all of them trust the leaders to ensure the organization's long-term success. MSME leaders also engage with stakeholders, but their focus is often more localized. They may have closer relationships with customers, suppliers, and community members, and they must prioritize the needs of one over the other to maintain trust and loyalty. Any perceived breach of trust may be detrimental to an MSME leader.

While corporate and MSME leaders share some common leadership principles, such as strategic vision, decision-making, and people management, the differences are more than what can be accommodated in a single blog. I shall be back with more.