Leadership and Management
There is no doubt that any specialist who would like to achieve success in the field related to coordinating other people’s efforts should see the difference between various notions that are often misunderstood. More than that, this assumption is especially important when it comes to those who are supposed to lead other people and encourage them to do their best as a team. Among other things, such notions that require clear understanding include leadership and management.
Speaking about leadership, it is necessary to say that it has a lot of definitions as each author tends to see it in his or her own way. In order to better understand the difference between these notions, it is necessary to refer to the opinions of recognized researchers. For instance, according to Zaleznik (2004), when it comes to leadership, ones are supposed to use their power in order to have an impact on assumptions supported by other people and the particular measures they are going to utilize in their work.
At the same time, the author supposes that in the field of management there are other values that are supported. Among them, he lists the willingness to act following the principle of rationality and quite strong desire to control employees, making them work more effectively and bring more profit (Zaleznik, 2004).
Another researcher whose works contain additional information on leadership and management is Northouse; speaking on the topic of leadership and its importance, he defines it as a “process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (2016, p. 6). At the same time, discussing management and its role, many authors do not mention such things as emotional intelligence, team spirit, and readiness to make sacrifices. Therefore, it may be stated that management remains a process related to allocation of duties and additional measures allowing to control working process. At the same time, leadership requires a wide range of qualities allowing a person to become a kind of role model for other people. Importantly, being a leader involves having “followers” instead of “subordinate employees” and even these words highlight the difference between the two processes.
Traits and Characteristics
As is clear from the definitions that are supposed to describe the nature of management and leadership, those people who would like to fulfil one of these functions are strongly recommended to possess certain qualities. Speaking about traits and characteristics of an effective manager, it is necessary to remember that the former is supposed to be good at verifying compliance with all the obligations and assessing the effectiveness of employees’ work to define the most important problems and weaknesses capable of decreasing the overall performance of a company.
Thus, according to Goleman (2004) who aims at studying the differences between leaders and managers, the latter are supposed to possess a range of analytical skills allowing them to process the information on working strategies as fast as possible. Nevertheless, he believes that good leaders have to possess these features as well. More than that, according to this researcher, emotional intelligence remains the primary quality that makes outstanding leaders different from good managers (Goleman, 2004).
As for emotional intelligence, using this term, specialists in the field usually mean a wide range of abilities. The latter include well-developed communication skills, the ability to control one’s emotions, and understand other people’s feelings. Based on the opinions of many researchers, these traits are the most relevant to the very nature of leadership.
According to the opinion supported by Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991), those who can be called good leaders are expected to be very honest and motivated; apart from that, it is impossible to lead people if you are not active and ambitious. In addition, reflecting on the topic of important traits for leaders and managers, it is necessary to refer to Kotter (2001); unlike other researchers, he states that management can never be substituted by leadership as these systems are not supposed to fulfil the same task. The author believes that the most important quality for a good manager is the ability to solve problems that require strong analytic skills and the use of systemic approach.
At the same time, when it comes to skills that successful leaders are supposed to possess, the author mentions the ability to lead people despite possible changes in the business environment and unstable conditions (Kotter, 2001). Therefore, it can be concluded that good managers need to have strong analytical skills and be able to solve complex problems as their role is strictly interconnected with improving working processes and ensuring that all parts of the system (including employees) can be effective while fulfilling their primary duties. At the same time, the role of leader involves encouraging followers to work hard and break new ground for the good of the entire team. Due to that, such qualities as empathy, honesty, and ambitiousness are extremely important for those people who would like to be successful as leaders.
Personal Assessment
As for my personal effectiveness as a leader or a manager, I would like to state that there are many things that I will need to improve in order to become successful in the future. Nevertheless, I believe that I could be a good leader due to the fact that I pay an increased attention to relationships between people. Therefore, considering the fact that I am quite good at encouraging other ones to do their best, I suppose that I possess emotional intelligence that remains the primary quality for a good leader.
As for my opportunities related to the field of management, I believe that it would be quite difficult for me to become a successful manager. To me, the necessity to analyze great volumes of information in order to improve the work of a company can be a difficult task because it requires putting an increased focus on details and the way that they influence each other whereas I am more interested in the work that involves collaboration and communication.
Reflective Analysis
With the help of this assignment, I have managed to discover new things about leadership and management. To begin with, I can say that the great difference between these notions definitely surprised me as I have seen these spheres as very similar for a long time. More than that, it was very interesting to find out that leaders and managers cannot substitute each other because I have heard a lot of people say that leaders and their strategies are much more significant for companies. Also, it was important to define whether I am capable of becoming a leader in the future.
In the end, it is necessary to define the actions that can help me to improve my managerial skills. First, it can be necessary to extend the knowledge on strategic management and the particular tools that simplify decision-making processes. Besides, I will pay more attention to risk assessment while acting as a manager.
References
Goleman, D. (2004). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82-91.
Kirkpatrick, S. A. & Locke, E. A. (1991). Leadership: Do traits matter? Academy of Management Executive, 5(2), 48-60.
Kotter, J. P. (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 79(11), 85-96.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Zaleznik, A. (2004). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 74-81.