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The similarities and differences of a manager and a leader
What does being a leader mean
What does being a leader mean
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According to contributor, Liz Ryan, within the role of a leader, one needs to remember that, “Responsibility for a team of people and its success -- not to mention each team members' well-being and professional development -- is a big assignment to take on” (Ryan, pg.1). There is a fine line between leader and manager, although sometimes they are considered to have the same qualities. However, it really comes down to how with a leader they not only care about their personal success within the organization, but they are invested in their team’s successes or losses. On the other hand, managers were taught how to manage people rather than to lead their two organizations to success. Managers feel that all their followers are equals and can reach the same goal by working together. When the managers only truly care about the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling in their organization. Within this article, Ryan breaks down the five different that management and leadership are different to one another. The five different areas she feels that management and leadership are completely different to one another: the mission, self- awareness, risk and trust, two-way learning and finding your voice and speaking your truth. Based on what we have learned about leadership in the class, it’s important that we analyze the …show more content…
Wayne Dyer, states that leaders should, “See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see.” One of the important traits that a leader should pull the light out of their followers in the hope of working well together toward the organization’s mission. As a leader, it is extremely important to make sure to always to motivate with their followers, especially when working together toward the mission of the organization. Very motivational leaders have the power of breaking the mission into three key points: beginning, middle and an end. It’s the energy from the team that helps the leader to motivate and to keep the mission
Leadership is the ability to influence employees to voluntarily pursue organizational goals. Leadership is vision, enthusiasm, love, trust, passion and consistency. Management is to pursue organizational goals efficiently and effectively by integrating the work of people through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizations resources. Leadership and management are not the same. They are not interchangeable. Leadership is coping with change and management is coping with complexity (Williams 444).
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.
There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself. Great followership is a reflection of great leadership. In this, the follower is just as important as the leader in the relationship. Many great leaders have asserted that a leader with even a modicum of understanding of what drives their subordinates can take their organization to previously undreamt-of heights in creativity and productivity. Collins does not disabuse us of this notion, he does however add that the follower is indispensable agent in this interplay between leader and follower.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Inspire a Shared Vision- leaders believe that they can make a difference in getting others excited and drafting them into their dream and the future possibilities.
Leadership can be traced back to many ideologies over the history of time. There have been individuals that have achieved great success and accomplishments through inspiring others to believe and follow their leadership. This paper will explain some of the theories that philosophically explain how those great people inspired others to believe in their vision and goals.
When leaders have inspired their followers, a sense of purpose, fellowship, and a desire to continue their work can be felt throughout their work environment (Schwantes, 2015). If an outsider were to stroll through my office, it would be evident that we are inspired to launch rockets. Members of my unit are willing to sacrifice personal time and work odd hours to ensure the mission is completed correctly. One member of my unit was so committed to the successful landing of a particular spacecraft, that he remained on station within three days of his report no later date of his next assignment.
To become a truly effective leader, one must encapsulate the various behaviors related to the aforementioned course learnings in his/her persona and demonstrate such behaviors daily. This course has allowed me to identify four behaviors that all leaders must portray to be effective. The first of which is that a leader must be inspirational. To do so, a leader must set the appropriate vision and direction for the organization and provide a path to achieving defined goals. Additionally, a leader must induce the proper levels of motivation so that each employee has sufficient incentive to work towards the organization’s goals. As discussed in the class, motivation can be accomplished by factors such as rewarding hard work and providing the correct opportunities to employees. While these are motivating in that employees desire to be fairly compensated and to be doing work they deem valuable, inspiration comes more from organizational culture. A leader will be inspirational by setting a tone that appreciates each employee’s contribution, no matter how small in scale it is. Further, employees are inspired when they work collaboratively in a group setting and can capitalize on individual strengths to drive organizational goals.
It is very common in this day and age to become discontent with where you are at in leadership. One of the reasons for this discontentment can be because influencing all of those around us is not an easy thing to do. If we are to not only stay content, but also excel in leadership we must keep in mind that ninety-nine percent of leadership does not come from the top of any given organization, but the middle. John C. Maxwell, author of The 360-Degree Leader, speaks to us about the principles that leaders can use to bring value and influence to any organization from any level within the organization, enabling them to do, what John C. Maxwell describes as leading up, leading across, and leading down.
When it comes to management, there are certain traits one must possess as well as four functions or processes which are required of their role. The four functions or managerial processes considered necessary are: planning, organizing, leading and controlling; keep in mind…leading is not the same as being labeled a “leader”. Traits that separate a leader from a manager is the leader is “highly self-disciplined, and as a result they are more effective at leading by example. Leaders are not interested in achieving control of others because they are so confident in themselves” (Gorham, 2015). Gorham points out the blatant difference in the manager traits which is to “focus heavily on providing thoughtful rationale to their team and maintaining
Motivation and Leadership are intrinsically linked in the fact that one allows an easement in the process of the other. Without the ability to use the mutual relationship of leadership to influence the motivators of followers, leaders stagnate and are limited by their own inability to accomplish all that must be for real change to occur. In less Rostonian terms (that is, based on Rost (1993)), without a motivated group of followers leaders are stranded and not achieving to a level of excellence. This paper will discuss some areas of importance for motivation in leadership as well as an application to leadership theory and a discussion on personal motivators.
As stated earlier, managers have many different hats but leaders hold many different roles and are responsible for many different aspects of their group/section/team etc. A leader must be a visionary in the sense that they are always seeking improvement in some way. They do not accept the current state of anything and always ask the “right questions” (Caroselli, p. 17, 2000). To have vision is to not only see what something is, but to see what it could become. Upon this realization, a leader will not only issue their orders but also be comfortable doing the same thing. This is known as “talking the talk...
Leadership and management are two words that are commonly mistaken; the relation and the differences between them are often unclear. Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or a set of goals." Managers are there to plan, organize, lead and monitor employees' activities. Leaders also have to be able to guide an organization through change. As we will see later, vision is a crucial component in the success of this task.
By allowing for employees to be increasingly engaged in workplace activities, they are then given the opportunity to develop new skills. Most leaders also encourage for employees to participate in team building activities so that any employee would be more comfortable and have stronger chemistry when working with other members of their respective departments, and with other employees in the company as a whole. Leaders are capable of motivating their subordinates through a series of actions, such as words of encouragement, acts of appreciation, and allowing for employee involvement in key decision making processes in the company. For instance, leaders who appreciate, constantly encourage and assist in the improvement of the tasks performed by their subordinates will be able to build a strong and healthy employer-employee relationship. This good relationship instils the traits of confidence in employees and motivates them to enhance their performance. Excellent leaders commonly try to develop a dialogue or establish open communication with their subordinates. Employees who are well
Leadership and management are two fundamental concepts which are involved in the effective management of organizations. Leadership in my opinion is a complex concept, which includes association of human qualities and the result of their activities. To be a great leader means not only following own visions, but also work towards company’s goals.