Management and Leadership are the Same Thing -Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Management and Leadership are the Same Thing. Answer: Solomon, Costea Nita (2016) argued that leadership andmanagement could be same if the organization is small. However, the large organizations should have a clear-cut distinction between leaders and managers. In large organizations both leaders and managers can experience the same challenges in executing the fourmanagement functions. These include: Planning- unclear or unattainable vision Organizing- inadequate resources including manpower Leading- resistance from the team Controlling- poor/failed performance standards Authors highlighted that as a manager it is important to behave in a professional manner at all times. The employees should never see their manager acting unprofessional, because they will lose respect for them. A leader commands respect based on their actions. Authors saidthat a "manager and leader can be one of the same". In fact, setting these terms against each other makes leadership into a poor form ofmanagement and management into a poor form of leadership. Leaders and managers have a tough job, they have to ensure that are T's are crossed and I's are dotted. They also have to ensure everyone has their job duties and are carrying them out as they should. Whether a person is a leader or a manager they have great responsibilities and should always be trying to gain to insight in order to grow the company.A leader will knowingly or subconsciously, use a style of leadership to lead a team of people but it is imperative to take note of the various leadership styles and adopt one tha t can help him/ her to operate efficiently. Servant leaders selflessly strives to meet the needs of those they are serving. The leader believes in increased moral courage to help others. A vocation/calling is a persons life purpose on earth. A servant leader believes that it is his/her calling to treat others with dignity. They do not let their positional ego influence their behavior, but their ultimate focus is to serve others. Authors also argued that that some conflict is good in a sense that it promotes completion amongst employees and departments. However, the healthy conflict does not extend into the realm of unethical behavior in order to achieve desired outcomes. Authors concluded that leadership and management could be same thing for small organizations. However, the large organizations should have different connotations for management and leadership. (Nijstad, Berger-Selman De Dreu, 2014) discussed how some leaders may be hesitant to discipline or terminate employees whereas managers are usually administrators that understand the bottom line while work to meet organizational goals. The differences seem to be emotionally connected to help people get the job done versus non-emotionally connected to meet goals and expectations. A challenge that can face a leader is allowing the progression of the project under the direct supervision of the director or manager even though there may be times of failure or the level of progress does not meet expectations. In the article, authors provided a nursing example to differentiate between managers and leaders. For example in nursing if the managers have to decrease the development of pressure ulcers in the unit, the leaders will search the new ideas to prevent the development of pressure ulcers and will compare the products currently in use and evaluate the benefits of new products over the ol d. It may be necessary for him/her to implement the plan to turn and reposition the patient every 2 hours or ambulate the patient 2 times a shift or the application of the skin protectant to prevent the skin breakdown. As leader, the manager can provide the data about the development of pressure ulcers, educate the staff about the strategies to prevent skin breakdown. Or the leaders can plan to use new mattress or skin protectant to prevent pressure ulcers. Another innovative idea she can have is the addition of another care person so the patients are turned and reposition more frequently. Leaders who can come up with creative ways to view the real challenges of their organizations and present them can then have the power to change those issues that others are overlooking. According to authors, when employees are lead with motivation and role modeling, employees come back meeting their expected goals. After the initial discussion, authors argued the reason to practice the leadership and servant leadership in particular. Authors highlighted that the next logical step in the path of management should be leadership. It is expected that a leader would be a good manager. Authors highlighted that leader has capabilities that are beyond then the capabilities of managers. If a leader views people merely as a means to an end, and utilizes aspects of servant leadership simply because they believe it will gain them some personal advantage by causing people to work harder to achieve a goal, then the basis of the theory itself is being undermined. A situation of this nature could very easily unravel as those in the followership position may react negatively if/when any disingenuous motivations/sentiments are discovered. It can leave followers with a myriad of negative emotional and psychological consequences. Authors argued that the leaders should be humble to teach the leadership traits to va rious managers. The contemporary organizations require more leaders than managers as the focus is on transformation of organizations and not on transactional work. Authors, further extended this argument that situational leadership style should suits well the organizations in contemporary environment. For the situational leader, servant leadership may be viewed as a tactic or a tool, but they need to tread lightly, as mistaking servant leadership for a means of manipulation could be a very detrimental error. Authors concluded that there are significant differences between leadership and management. The role of leaders is more of transformational in nature and role of managers is more of transactional in nature. Van Dierendonck, Stam, Boersma, Windt Alkema (2014) highlighted that leadership places emphasis on the needs of others. For example, leaders will tend to empathize, developing potential, nurturing, and so forth. The problem is, todays word is less ethical, and have fewer regards for religious components plus the needs of the collective will prioritize over individuals. Additionally, todays culture chooses not or not having the time to accommodate the needs of individuals, its a shame but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. On that note, there are more firms using such leadership style than ever before even though the numbers are small but growing. Authors discussed various difference between leaders and managers. Authors highlighted that leaders are generally more supportive than managers. A true leader is one who is always approachable and people can discuss anything with leader without any hesitation. However, the relationship between a manager and a subordinate is more for mal and transactional in nature. In most of the cases, manager would be the one who will daily interact with employees for small works. Authors agreed with the perspective that a leader should always motivate the employees. There are times when leaders are not directly involved with the employees. However, the motivation can be done through speeches, video conferencing meetings, etc. Authors also presented that there could be cases when the managers are power hungry. However, a leader is someone who has natural power. They do not seek or need power, and only want what is best for the people. Good leaders are able to do this and still ensure that the goals of an organization are met by their influence over others. Authors concluded that organizations should realize the difference between management and leadership. It is correct that organizations would need the support of both leaders and managers. However, leaders must have the capability to manage the managers. It is important that an integrated eco-system should be created where all the leaders, managers and employees can work together. Edwards, Schedlitzki, Turnbull Gill (2015) argued that servant leadership style is the old but contemporary style of leadership. The way servant leadership differ from traditional forms of leadership is when a servant leader possesses the calling of a servant first, wanting and willing to serve others first. Being a servant will come natural for those who feel like they have a calling over their lives to be a servant. The leadership role comes through actions to show others that you can be a leader. In the book Servant Leadership, Greenleaf talks about how Leo was a leader and the difference in being a servant and a leader and how they can work together. Leadership was bestowed upon a person who was by nature a servant. It was something given, or assumed, that could be taken away. His servant nature was the real man, not bestowed, not assumed, and not to be taken away. The servant leaders have a better understanding of managers and it appears that the managers who can attain the pat h of servant leaders would be good and effective leaders in the organization. Authors concluded that organization needs both managers and leaders for successful working. The leaders may want to establish the vision and decide the high-level goals. However, it is the role of managers to get the things done and ensure that all the employees are on same page. Zhu, Newman, Miao Hooke (2013) argued that to focus on leadership is not to focus on the traditional form of management. Leadership differ from traditional forms of management by means of his or her perspective regarding his or her own behaviors. Traditional management focuses on top down leadership with the belief that their leadership capabilities comes from their position of authority. In traditional management, it can be found that the leader maintain ownership of information and may or may not listen to suggestion from team members. Greater demands of leadership are placed on the traditional leader. In this day and time traditional leadership or management seems to be in the past and from the past. Many organizations are moving into leadership style. This is very common in higher education. The servant leadership traits, act as positive principles that help the overall effectiveness and productivity of the organization. Organizations are evolving and using new leadership strate gies, styles and traits to be effective. Appealing to their customers, clients, students is very important. Making sure the needs of employees and customers are being met. Effective leadership is important for any organizations growth and development. Boards of directors have a responsibility to more than those in leadership who work for them. Friendships are great, networking is invaluable, but when a leader is working unethically, it is paramount that friendships and acquaintances be set aside for the good of the company. Since leaders set the tone for the ethics of the organization, to allow them to be have detrimentally to the overall organization, will ultimately lead to their followers acting the same way. Experience teaches that some lower level employees wait for the opportunity to blame their leaders and use that leaders behavior as an excuse to behave the same way. Author states that if at any time the leadership within any organization acts in was that are unethical, the board must act as a governing body that takes corrective action to improve the behavior of that leader or remove that individual. The reason being is that the board of directors must always see to serve the needs of all stakeholders, both internal and external. Authors concluded that there exist stark differences in the role of management and leadership. It is important the focus of organizations should be to convert managers into leaders. The leaders are more outcome oriented and managers are more process oriented. It is important that managers should also have a vision shared by leaders. Conclusion The above paper discussed the annotated bibliography for the topic, management and leadership are the same thing. The initial research suggests that in the contemporary business environment, leadership and management should not be considered as same thing. The literature suggests that leadership is a journey and management could be a pit stop. It is critical that organizations should have a balance of both managers and leaders for effective functioning. After reading through multiple articles, there are two main types of behaviors leaders demonstrate, which are ethical behavior and a concern for his or her subordinates. These leaders are committed to the growth and welfare of people. As for behaviors that would be prohibited personally as well as within the organization they are leading, I would think a vital one to point out would be deceit especially since servant leadership is built on trust. References Zhu, W., Newman, A., Miao, Q. and Hooke, A., 2013. Revisiting the mediating role of trust in transformational leadership effects: Do different types of trust make a difference?.The Leadership Quarterly,24(1), pp.94-105. Edwards, G., Schedlitzki, D., Turnbull, S., Gill, R. (2015). Exploring power assumptions in the leadership and management debate.Leadership Organization Development Journal,36(3), 328-343. Van Dierendonck, D., Stam, D., Boersma, P., De Windt, N. and Alkema, J., 2014. Same difference? Exploring the differential mechanisms linking servant leadership and transformational leadership to follower outcomes.The Leadership Quarterly,25(3), pp.544-562. Nijstad, B.A., Berger-Selman, F. and De Dreu, C.K., 2014. Innovation in top management teams: Minority dissent, transformational leadership, and radical innovations.European journal of work and organizational psychology,23(2), pp.310-322. Solomon, I.G., Costea, C. and Nita, A.M., 2016. Leadership versus management in public organizations.Economics, Management and Financial Markets,11(1), p.143.