Describing cases of management and leadership
Being a leader of an Ambulatory Surgery Center, I try to do everything possible to coach and empower my staff. I am always concerned with the future development of our nursing network and all my reforms are directed at innovating, advancing, and improving the quality of healthcare deliver. Applying to a combination of skills, my mission implies the accomplishment of positive outcomes for the staff and for the patients. I also take orders to my managers among which the one who is really effective. Possessing great diplomatic and communicating skills, she successfully takes control of all activities and operations held at hospital. Along with management skills, she is also endowed with other very useful qualities. In particular, she often goes beyond the established paradigms and clichés for the purpose of improving the level of services. She really cares about people and her person-oriented approach contributes to the creation of a healthy environment where all nurses strive to fulfill themselves and acquire experience in treating the patients more effectively. This is why, although she works like a manager, her leadership skills are explicit.
There is another manager working at our department who has a completely different character. Her willingness to find friends and to be acknowledged by others prevails over the main responsibilities that should be taken by a manager. Paying close attention to the nurses’ welfare, this manager failed to meet the patients’ needs, which is a priority for our hospital. Though she looks beyond the established paradigms, she can be called a false leader because her strategies were not approved in terms of effectiveness and innovation.
Identifying the differences between a leader and a manager
Judging from the above cases, there is a tangible different between leadership and management. In the video presented by Manion et al (n. d.), health care professional disclose the main aspects different one notion from another. Specifically, management is more concerned with controlling daily operations in an efficient way, adhering to the established rules, and maintaining the order. Management is more associated with structures, procedures, and policies that should properly carried out. In its turn, leadership relates more to controlling the effectiveness of operation and searching for new ways to make specific activities more effective. In other words, leadership is more about creating new approaches and paradigms. Additionally, leadership is also aimed at meeting people’s concerns in terms of quality, effectiveness, and security. Similar views are help by Zaleznik (2003) stating that “[l]eadership inevitably requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people” (p. 67). In contrast, “…management consists of the rational assessment of a situation and the systematic selection of goals and purposes” (Zaleznik, 2003, p. 68).
Another importance distinction between management and leadership lies in the character of a decision-making process. Due to the fact that decision making imposes a great responsibility, this activity is more typical of leaders rather than managers because the latter category will rely more on the established norms. Indeed, leaders will be guided by personal positions concerning the situation at hospitals. They will be more concerned with the reasons and underpinning triggering to make a particular decision (Rousel and Swansburg, 2006, p. 82). In addition, Wendler et al. (2009) insist on the fact that management and leadership strategies should be effectively worked out for the clinical to clearly understand their major duties and obligations.
References
Manion, J., Valentine, N., Hader, R., & Houser, B. (n. d.). Management and Leadeship.
Rousel, L., and Swansburg, R. C. (2006). Management and Leadership for Nurse Administrators. US: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Wendler, C.M., Olson-Sitki, K., Prater, M. (2009). Succession planning for RNs: Implementing a nurse management internship. Journal of Nursing Administration, 39(7), 326-333.
Zaleznik A. (2003). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 18(3), 171–177.