Distinction in Leadership and Management

690 Words2 Pages

A leader is one who is in authority that tell others what to do, or so I thought till the commencement of leadership 1. As I progressed through the course, I realised that there is more to being a leader than I ever imagined. Peter Drucker once said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” (Drucker, n.d.) This is a statement that I would have never understood but from this course I do. Using the knowledge acquired so far from this course in topics such as pragmatic leadership, pleasing the masses and more, I believe none could have said it better than Peter Drucker did and I will prove this rationalization.
There is a thin line between leadership and management although, they complement each other. Management involves planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing while leadership involves setting direction and aligning people. Although there is a slight difference, these two complement each other. Management concerns itself more with working to bring an already existing plan of action but leadership is the office that creates the plan. The manager ensures that everyone acts in accordance to a plan that exists already. Akin to the leader the manager organizes and controls but his office ends here. The leader is the one that creates the plan and the manager maps out the course of action. The leader directs and the manager co-ordinates thus leadership can’t exist without management yet they are two separate offices with leadership at the helm.
The four essential traits of leadership according to Jack Welch are energy, energize, edge and execution (Krames). This leaders exhibit everyday leadership. This four E’s are not built on any particular rigid tests but on the contrary are concerned with doing...

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...handled it differently.
The distinction and similarities between management and leadership has been discussed using the knowledge obtained from four topics covered in the leadership course thus far. Although Peter Drucker has outlined the differences between leadership and management, it can be safely concluded that this two terms are interchangeably related.

References
Blackie, D. (n.d.). Doug Blackie On Leadership. Retrieved from Doug Blackie Website: http://www.dougblackie.com/2011/04/pragmatic-leadership/
Drucker, P. F. (n.d.). Goodreads. Retrieved from www.goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/12008.Peter_F_Drucker
Krames, J. A. (n.d.). Jack Welch and the 4E's of Leadership. Retrieved from What makes a good leader: http://www.whatmakesagoodleader.com/Jack-Welch.html
Washington, D. (Director). (2007). The Great Debators [Motion Picture].

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