Introduction
Management is the act of having all activities done well and at the right time by other people. Management involves organizing, analyzing, planning, and budgeting for the activities to be carried out to effectively achieve the set goals. While leadership is the process of motivating others or influencing others to achieve a common goal set by an organization. A leader is someone who values and cares for others in the working environment. He listens and leads as an example.
Two different styles or types of leaders
There are two types of leaders; include the transactional style or type and the transformational type of leaders. The transactional leader always creates structures that are well understood by the subordinates on what is needed of them and the particular rewards given for following the given orders. The structure does not always mention the punishments, but the subordinates do understand the system of discipline put in place. The subordinates are required to do what their leader tells them to do. In the beginning, the manager negotiates the contract with the subordinate and pays their salary and other necessary benefits if any and after the agreement, the leader now has the mandate over the subordinate. The subordinates are supposed to carry out work responsibly after they have been assigned by the manager. They have to do it successfully whether they have enough resources or the ability to carry it out, when a failure occurs, the subordinate is considered to be the one to blame and thus punishment is given just the way they get rewarded when they perform better. The transactional style of leaders is mainly motivated by rewards and money.
The other type or style of leaders in the transformational style. Transformational leaders are leaders who are willing and ready to help their subordinates grow and succeed because they do care about them. They put passion and more energy into all things that they do. This type of leader develops a vision that is so encouraging to the workers. For this vision to be effective for the organization the transformational leader is always working hard to create and win the trust and integrity of their subordinates, through commitment and additional energy. They use any available opportunity to convince and help others rise to the top (Bass, 1990).
Transformational leaders do not only sell their vision, but they also find the way forward in achieving their goals and they do lead by example for the rest to follow. They recognize the possibilities of failures on the way but find ways of correcting the shortcomings. Transformational leaders listen, soothe, and use enthusiasm to motivate their workers. Their attitudes and behaviors always portray a picture of how everyone should act. They instill the spirit of commitment to the vision through the use of motivational ways such as ceremonies, and cultural events. Through transformational style, the subordinates do get benefit in that their lives are transformed and thus they may also find themselves in higher positions like their leader. Unfortunately, this style may result in frustrations to leaders especially when the company does not need to be transformed and the people are content the way they are.
The style that fits my philosophy of nursing leadership
The transformational style fits my philosophy of nursing leadership. This is because, in the nursing field, commitment and corporation are needed to achieve the goal of offering the best services to the patient. The leader is required to work closely with his followers with passion and energy in all things that they do. Thus, through this, they will reach a common goal that is beneficial to everyone.
Leadership versus Management
Management is a planning function, it includes managing an organization. Or even yourself. It includes the good use of the available resources to effectively achieve the set objective. It is an investment of resources, time, and talent with the expectation.of good returns as profit. Therefore it is a group effort where no one specific is in charge. On the other hand, leadership is having work done by other people. It requires one to be responsible enough to guide others so that the job can be done. The leader shows a good example for others to follow so that the work is done effectively.
Leadership and management, therefore, mean two different things. According to Syque (2007), leadership is used in the promotion of new directions while management uses the already existing directions effectively. Manager’s work is to ensure that the work is perfectly done, and monitor the daily duties. Though, sometimes it’s seen as being insensitive to people’s needs. By contrast, leaders are so sensitive to the needs of people, they have a vision and they inspire others. But distinguishing leadership and management in the case of style are seen as a dead-end in that, leadership can be portrayed through polite or forceful disagreements on difficult situations. A leader who inspires his workers can achieve a great change of direction, whereas, a manager who inspires others increases the motivation for his workers to work even harder to ensure that the hardest job is done efficiently and in good time.
Managers know that resources are scarce and thus competitive pressure results in efficient use of everything. They aim at doing things right.they are supposed to make a sound decisions. By contrast, leaders have persuasion habits for people to change direction. Leadership occurs occasionally while management is a continuous role.
Reference List
Bass, J. (1990). Bass & Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and Managerial applications. New York, US: Free Press.
Syque, F.M. (2007). Leadership: ChangingMinds.org. Web.