Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Distinguish between leadership and management
Distinguish between leadership and management
Distinguish between leadership and management
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Distinguish between leadership and management
One of my favorite management quotes says “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success, leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” My ideas about leadership and management have been shaped by personal experiences in both the military and private sectors. While there are good and bad leaders in both worlds, the military adds an interesting twist in the requirement to follow the orders of your chain of command and that facets of management are performed at varying steps in that chain. In the military, “leadership” is imposed as rank is earned. Conversely, in the private sector, leadership is earned or demonstrated in order to achieve “rank”. I find myself torn between these alternate views of leadership and management as I think of answers to the assigned questions.
If I were the CEO of a company, would I hire managers or leaders for my supervisory positions? My answer to this question depends on my company. As the CEO of a start-up company on the cutting edge of my market segment, I would ensure that the majority of my supervisors have the vision and skills necessary to ensure success and future growth opportunities. However, not all functions of the business would require a high level of forward thinking so having managers would also be important. As the book states, having leaders with an entrepreneurial view of the world would be an asset during the development phase of the business but they could become overwhelmed by bureaucracy as the business matures. I think it is important to note that “leading” is listed as one of the 8 identifiable functions of managers. From a military perspective, as an admiral, I would expect my senior officers to be leaders with an eye on t...
... middle of paper ...
... also results in higher efficiency.
Works Cited
Babcock-Roberson, M., & Strickland, O. (2010). The Relationship Between Charismatic Leadership, Work Engagement, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. Journal of Psychology, 144(3), 313-326. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Covey, S. (1990). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Fireside.
Kreitner R. (2009). Management. Canada: Houghton Mifflin Hardcourt.
Sterry, T., Reiter-Purtill, J., Gartstein, M., Gerhardt, C., Vannatta, K., & Noll, R. (2010). Temperament and Peer Acceptance: The Mediating Role of Social Behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 56(2), 189-219. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Zweig, D. (2010). The Board That Couldn’t Think Straight. Conference Board Review v. 47 no. 1 (Winter 2010) p. 40-7. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
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.
Sanson, A., Hemphill, S., & Smart, D. (2004). Connections between temperament and social development: A review. Social Development,13(1), 142-170.
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.
Leadership, command, and management are three overlapping activities which are often difficult to differentiate and easy to confuse. An individual can be doing all the three at anyone point in time; all the three are always required in varying proportions for the successful accomplishment of a mission, duty or respnsibility. Understanding how the three competences relate or how they tend to be similar or different helps us to understand their relevance especially in as far as they contribute singularly or in concert to the prosperity of organisations both in the corporate and military world. Steven Bungay defines the difference between management and leadership, and borrowing from the military, proposes a third concept of command, which is essential for providing the direction of an organization’s activities .
I agree with this statement because leadership in an organization is essential to its survival. On the other hand, supervisors also play a critical role in large establishments, but leaders and supervisors are not essentially one and the same. Both leaders and supervisors have some mutual aspects, but they also can be different significantly in some different ways as well. Leaders are not in essence automatically assigned to be in a position as a "leader.”
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.
The role of leadership can impact an organization performance in many ways. Excellent leadership can propel a company to the fortune five hundred list. For Example, Harpo Incorporated Oprah Winfrey’s company is a successful business that has made billions of dollars over the years. The business consists of several different entities such as the Oprah Show, Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Dr. Phil Show to name a few. This could not have been accomplished with a weak or uneducated leader. Many years ago I heard her give advice to the Williams Sisters. The a...
Managers are not only interested in status quo, but also production, expansion and growth. Management was a system to control machines. Leadership can never be controlled. Where one sits in life determines what you see. To be a good manager one must look at views from different perspectives. As situations change, leadership relations change. Leadership cannot be transactional. It can only work if both parties keep their agreements. A class survey was held to compare leaders to managers. The overall opinion was that they are similar in many ways. A leader and a manager can be one in the same. The difference be...
Leadership has been defined as "the art of influencing people to the degree that they are willingly and eagerly to achieve the objectives of the army and encourage them to develop not only in action but in the desire to work with enthusiasm and confidence"(writer’s name, 2017).Management is dangerously important in people’s lives. Proactive leaders strive continuously to master and gain more skills in daily bases for the benefit of their followers. However, inexperienced leaders can result in unwelcomed outcomes and find themselves along with their people in a devastated abyss. Therefore, leading is a unique art and a social behavior that help people achieving and reaching their rewards, because leaders are responsible for all aspects of the
Leadership and management have several meanings and mean something different to everyone. Leadership has been defined similarly to management from time to time and can be defined by every individual
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.
Every good leader has successful skills to accomplish a common goal within an organization. Although the term leader is often intertwined with the manager; a leader’s characteristics are rarely the same in responsibilities. Leaders are developed by the type of organizational cultured that they are derived in. Thus, bringing the skills to designed changes rather than only promote changes as often may be seen in managers. Leadership is then the support of employees by offering a clear concise understanding of an organization needs and therefore brings balance to the task and the relationship of the employees. So what is the purpose of the leadership? To serve others while transforming the company’s mission into actually obtainable goals while all the while overcoming situational
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.
Successful business leaders have stressed that good management skills, whether in a large corporation or in a one-person business, are vital to the success of a business. Many small business people may be good at launching their venture, but weak in managing the development and later stages of the business. DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN A MANAGER AND A LEADER Leadership is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. Care must be taken in distinguishing between the two concepts. The main aim of a manager is to maximise the output of the organisation through administrative implementation.