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Leadership vs management
How does leadership help to achieve organization goal
Leadership vs management
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Several weeks ago, I stumbled on this quote “Greatness is not a function of circumstance; greatness is largely a matter of conscience, choice and discipline” by Jim Collins. Halfway into my Leadership One class, after a sober reflection; I realized that all the great leaders I had heard of and known personally exhibited traits of fascinating discipline, intense consciousness amongst other factors. Another interesting observation showed the allegiances of these leaders to a supernatural being. In my opinion, leaders and managers have quite a clear distinction which is tersely explained as “managers do things right and leaders do the right thing.” Nonetheless, managers administer and leaders innovate to be precise. Management is the ability to get a job done using appropriate processes, models and systems to achieve an objective. Managers think radically, abide by principles, rules and use experience in their respective fields to make things work. A good manager goes about the ordinary activities such a staffing, organizing, planning (Robert, 2007). The very ability of his/her colleague to discover the uniqueness in each of the subordinates, capitalize on it, harnessing the best out of them to accomplish goals clearly distinguishes such a person as great when compared to others. Great managers develop people and enthusiastically transfer acquired skills to others, work progress is constant and usually by leaps and bounds. In addition, a great manager outlines and strategizes his/her team for project plans such that there is a “buy in” on delivered commitments. In contrast, the former just transfers the required skills to subordinates; work progress is notable, vice versa of the latter. Rupert Murdoch of the News Corporation is ... ... middle of paper ... ...ding with integrity and moral purpose. Exploring Leadership. Moazami, B. (August, 2010). Shooting an Elephant. The Bacharach Blog. Retrieved from http://sambacharach.com/bacharachblog/leader/shooting-an-elephant/. Pozin, I. (May, 2013). The Difference between Managers and Leaders. Linked-In Influencer. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130529150715-5799319-the-difference-between-managers-and-leaders. Rousmaniere, D. (November, 2012). Morning Advantage: The Difference Between Good Leaders and Great Leaders. HBR Blog Network/Morning Advantage. Retrieved from http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/11/morning-advantage-the-differen-1/a. Williams, D.K. (July, 2012). Top 10 List: The Greatest Living Business Leaders Today. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2012/07/24/top-10-list-the-greatest-living-business-leaders-todaay/.
It is said that a manager is one that is doing things right, but a leader is someone who is not doing things right.
The systematic and scholarly study of leadership consumed much of the twentieth century and continues to remain a vital topic of discussion today. Theories abound as to what makes one a good leader and, despite the continued efforts of many, no single operable expression of the meaning of leadership exists. In an attempt to address this issue James Kotterman wrote, “Leadership Versus Management: What’s the Difference.” The following review shall briefly summarize Kotterman’s article and follow with conclusions based on the experiences of this author.
The phrase “leader” versus “manager.” is used to show and compere how Leading is related to managing, Bennis and Nanus (1985:21) help us understand the broader role of supervision in their discussion of management and leadership: “To be a manager is to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of, responsibility for, to conduct. Leading, on the other hand, is influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion.” They go on to say that managers are people who “do things right,” and leaders are people who “do the right things.” Managers are more efficiency driven and focus on mastering routine activities, while leaders are driven by vision and judgment. Managers tend to be bean counters, while leaders focus on achieving desired results.
In my opinion, Leaders can make great managers, but that doesn’t always mean that mangers make great leaders. Managers often struggle with the power they are given and employees are reluctant to ask the important questions out of fear. Unlike a manager, a leader is someone that maintains harmony amongst a group of people. A model leader understands the importance of teamwork and works alongside everyone, in contrast to the hierarchical position managers are in. For example, Martin Luther King is a great leader because many of the ideas he expresses are those of the citizens.
Leaders is an effective tool for summarizing and inspiring leadership, not in that it teaches tough strategies and manipulations, but that when looking at an overview of its content, Bennis and Nanus are essentially teaching human relations and human decency. All in all, this book highlights strategies for us all to be better in our lives and our everyday interactions.
Leaders and managers seem to have a lot in common Being a good manager does not automatically make you a good leader, however if you are to combine the two you can become a great manager/Leader.
As it said in the textbook (2015) leaders innovate, develop, inspire, have long term view, ask what and why, originate, and challenge the status quo while managers administer, maintain, control, have short term view, ask how and when, imitate, and lastly accept the status quo (McGraw Hill Education, 2015, 16-17). Mangers answer to other people while leaders do not answer to other people. Also, mangers are mostly
Presently many of us have learned that managers are primarily administrators who have learned to write business plans, utilize their resources and keep track of progress. We must learn that we are not limited by job title, and that means we can utilize our management skills in any position that we are in. We must also know that we can use our leadership skills in the same situations. On the other hand we have also learned that leaders are people who have an impact on those that surround them. The main difference that separates these two roles is that management is a function that must be utilized in any type of business, and leadership is the relationship that the leader has with his followers, which in turn can motivate and energize the organization.
Barbara Kellerman is a unique theorist – she was one of the first theorists to focus the bulk of her research on something overlooked by other researchers: followers. Kellerman (2005) sees leadership in a way few others do: as a relationship that exists between leaders and followers and the context in which that relationship operates. By that logic followership must be an extension of leadership, rather than a result of it.
Great “leaders are made, not born” (Skrhak, 2014). A great leader motivates and influences a team to reach seemingly impossible goals. A great leader has a compelling sense of purpose and duty. Great leaders portray excellence and in return they expect no less than excellence. An effective and great leader is not defined by only personality, but by their values, ability and skills, and leadership style.
Managers nowadays do not actually do what a manager really should do back in the eighties. Changes that occurred in the new economy, the increasing use of technology in business, and the effects of globalisation towards business world have led management into a whole new dimension. New managers are expected to be able to manage on an international scale, act strategically, utilize technology, establish values, and of course, act responsibly as well. (Crainer, 1998) Henry Mintzberg once asked, "What do managers do?" After conducting his research based on a study of five CEOs, he concluded that managerial work involves interpersonal role, decisional role and informational role. And the fact is that, managers get things done through other people. Therefore, managers are required to possess certain skills and competencies which allow them to play these roles effectively and efficiently throughout the four functions of management. (Mintzberg, 1998)
Leaders are those who have a great influence on the lives of many people. This is especially relevant in today’s organizations, which face extreme time changes and an increasingly growing complexity (Yukl, 1998).
When I think of someone who is a great leader I automatically think about current and previous managers I have had over the years, and honestly I cannot say that any of them are the definition of a great leader. So after I looked up many different definitions of a leader all of them basically defined a leader in the same way, someone who leads people. So, a leader does not typically have to be a manager it could be a teacher or a parent. That is when I realize that a great leader has always been right in front of me teaching me great values, and that is my mother.
“The important word there is inspire. The key difference between managers and leaders is that managers tell people what to do, while leaders inspire them to do it. Inspiration comes from three things: clarity of one’s vision, courage of their conviction and the ability to effectively communicate both of those things”
An organisation is a deliberate arrangement of team consisting different personal identities to accomplish some specific goals and managers are the ones who hold the responsibility of mastering and placing them together to strive for that purpose (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2008). Robbins et al. (2008) have stated that managers are people who coordinate and oversee the work activities of others so that the goal is accomplished effectively and efficiently. Managers usually possess qualities such as having strong communication skills, flexibility, imagination, enthusiasm, problem solving skills, and of course the desire to be a great leader (Phdinmanagement.org, 2014). The structure of management conducted by a manager is often influenced by the four functions introduced by Henri Fayol (planning, organising, leading, controlling); how Henry Mintzberg’s management roles play in the organisation and also the three essentials management skills proposed by Robert L. Katz (Robbins et al., 2008).