Management vs. Leadership

Management vs. Leadership

Introduction

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.

Management Function

There are many tasks that a manager does on a daily basis which include problem solving, facilitating meetings, and many other routine office tasks. "Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals. Good managers do those things both effectively and efficiently." (Bateman & Snell, 2004) However many of these tasks should not be duplicated by a group of individuals. Different people can take on parts of the management function. Someone on a team can take care of the planning, while another person does the budgeting, and a third can monitor the progress and quality that each team member provides. "Management is like investment – you want to invest all resources at your disposal as efficiently as possible in order to get the best return on them you can." (McCrimmon, 2005)

In this case these team members may share the responsibility depending on what goal they are looking forward to achieving. The management function can be shared, coordinated, and planned by a team or group of individuals, in other words a team does not need good managers to generate good management.