Management and leadership - Essay Example

?You have to be a good manager to be an effective leader Introduction Management and leadership are two such terms that are sometimes used interchangeably though they slightly differ from each other in definition as well as in practice. Management entails supervision whereas leadership essentially means paving the way forward, and guiding the followers through it to achieve the goal. It is a well-known and understood fact that it takes the display of very fine management skills in order to be a good leader. Generally, good leaders are first good managers. Body One of the most fundamental differences between managers and leaders is their way of motivating the subordinates or followers. While the managers usually are risk averse in their approaches, leaders tend to take risks. Some traits that differentiate a manager from a leader are; managers prefer routine over change whereas leaders prefer the other way round; the vision of managers is short-term generally whereas leaders tend to have a long-term vision, leaders visualize things in a broad perspective whereas managers work upon details to make the plans of the leader practicable; finally, as the terms suggest, managers tend to manage whereas the work of a leader is to leader, though it takes sound management skills to be able to lead. The foundation on which leadership stands is the commitment and obedience of the followers. A leader cannot do without the help, support, and compliance of the followers. It takes management to get the followers in the position where they are ready to accept the leader as an individual with power and authority over them. Leadership without management is like trying to lead a herd of wild buffaloes. No matter how hard a leader tries, the wild buffaloes would get scattered and the man would not be able to lead them to their destination. Management essentially tames the workforce so that they get in the mood to listen to the leader and give him/her the due respect he/she deserves for being in the position of a leader. Management is about inculcating the sense of work ethics, respect for the principles of work, and a willingness to abide by them in the workplace in the workforce. These factors prepare a worker mentally and psychologically to be submissive to the leader for the matters related to work. In turn, the level of obedience of the subordinates is raised and this has a very healthy effect on the relationship between the leader and the subordinates. When managed rightly, workers know that they have to listen to the leader to be able to work toward attaining the goal as a group while keeping their personal egos aside. In this way, management essentially set the stage for a leader to perform on. Without that stage, the leader might be called as a leader but he/she might not be truly recognized as a leader, and without the recognition of a leader as such, leadership cannot be thought to be effective. The duties and responsibilities of a manager and a leader are to a large extent similar. While not every manager is a leader, every leader has to be a manager also. Although the individual with the utmost powers and the decision making authority in an organization is usually one or a small group of people who are recognized as leaders, yet down the line, every manager is a leader for the people working under him/her. For example, let’s take the example of the manager of kitchen in an organization. While the manager of kitchen has to follow the menu set by the leader and use only the ingredients made available to him/her by the leader, the manager of kitchen necessarily serves as a leader for the cooks, the chefs, the purchasers, the kitchen cleaners, and other workers working in the kitchen. Management in this example means providing the workers with the resources and help they require to achieve the tasks assigned to them individually and collectively, supervising them so as to make sure they are actually working and not wasting time in gossip and other activities, making sure that the kitchen is cleaned regularly and that the food is hygienic, and such other activities. The individual leads the kitchen department by managing the workers under him. By definition, a leader sets the goals and objectives for an organization and designs the strategies that would help the workforce attain them whereas a manager is responsible for effective implementation of those strategies. However, that does not mean that the leader does not assume the responsibility of effective implementation of the strategies he/she has designed. The difference is fragile; while the managers assume the responsibility of having the strategies implemented in their own respective departments, the leader assumes the responsibility of implementation of the strategies across the whole organization. In effect, the duties and responsibilities of a leader and a manager are much alike and the difference is of the scope of work. Since power comes with responsibility, leaders have more power than managers because they assume greater responsibilities than them. Other than that, a leader and a manager are much the same. So a leader cannot be effective without being a good manager because his/her responsibilities as a leader are to a large extent the same as those of the manager. Great managers are entrusted with the responsibilities of a leader in most of the organizations. It is a common practice in a lot of organizations particularly the restaurants that when a leader is absent or on leave, the top manager is assigned the responsibility of leadership in the leader’s absence. “He or she sets the direction, facilitates the operating plan, and is responsible for the marketing plan and sales goals, and the training and development of the managers” (Goldstein and Tripoli, 2010, p. 4). When this happens, the leader of the restaurants not only manages the people as he/she used to do before becoming the leader, but assumes the added responsibility of managing the managers that he/she did not do previously when he/she was just a manager. There are four fundamental functions of leadership, namely planning, organizing, staffing, and directing. Planning requires critical thinking skills as the leader needs to identify the most economically feasible and convenient course of action from among a range of alternatives. The critical thinking skills are both developed from and are an integral part of management. Organizing is the second function of leadership and means putting things in order. It can also be considered as sequencing or scheduling. Again, managers keep organizing things all the time to achieve their tasks. They establish the priorities for their subordinates, assign them responsibilities, and establish the order in which individuals or teams would accomplish the set tasks. Staffing is the third function of leadership and means recruiting people. Although the final decision regarding who should be recruited rests with the leader, yet the whole process of recruitment is fundamentally undertaken by the managers. It is the managers who shortlist the candidates after reviewing the CVs of the interested individuals, interview the candidates, and recommend them to the leader for final approval. So having worked as a manager to staff really helps a leader make informed decision as to who should be recruited. Directing is the fourth function of leadership and it means controlling. A leader is only able to lead the followers by controlling them, but managers do the same in their own little spheres all the time. They control their subordinates in their respective departments. Since all the functions of leadership form such an integral part of management, it becomes obvious that good management skills definitely help a leader become effective. Conclusion Concluding, leadership fundamentally stands on the foundation of management. Without management, the essence of leadership is lost even if the name of the individual as a leader remains as such in the papers; such is the power of management and its importance and significance for a leader. The roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders are to a large extent similar and overlapping which is why sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish where an individual’s responsibilities as a manager end and as a leader commence. Most of the workers in an organization are both managers as well as leaders in their little spheres, whereas the formally recognized leader might be just one or a small group of people. Therefore, a vast majority of leaders have, at some point in time, also served as managers. It is the very skills that they learn as a manager that later help them perform their duties successfully as a leader. Each function of leadership requires management to be performed effectively which provides evidence for the huge significance of great management skills for a leader. All functions of leadership are integrally linked with management one way or the other. Having worked as a manager at some time during the career really helps the individual learn the skills that are required to be effective as a leader. Developing a leader from a manager is a skillful task and requires proper planning and strategizing on the part of the owners of any organization. References: Goldstein, J, and Tripoli, C 2010, How to turn good managers into great leaders, [Online] Available at http://www.alacarteconsultinggroup.com/articles/pdf/good_managers_great_leaders.pdf [accessed: 6 January 2013]. Read More