How to Be a Good Manager and Effective Leader - Essay Example

Leadership Leadership Introduction It is commonly believed that good managers makegood leaders or a leader requires managerial skills in order to become an effective leader. Certain people believe that the concepts of management and leadership are different from each other; others are of the belief that these two terms are similar and are used interchangeably. Then there are those who believe that these two concepts are two different extremes, they believe that a good manager can never become a productive leader. Certain individuals even hold the view that both concepts operate together and a manager can play a leaders role while being in a management position. An organization comprising of teams and groups require the assistance of both leaders and managers to operate successfully. Several similarities may exist within the roles of the managers and the leaders, and several differences that separate both the positions even exist. This writing will focus on the differences between the two roles while accepting the fact that one single individual can play both roles at the same time. Body Leadership is referred to as a process in which an individual has the task of influencing a team of individuals with the aim of achieving common goals (MANNING, 2003, p.5). This means that leadership is firstly a process and it involves a sub process called influencing and cannot occur without the availability of a group and aims at attaining goals. These components of the definition of leadership are available in almost every theory and definition related to leadership. A leader is supposed to have several characteristics, some of the most important characteristics a leader should have in order to be successful includes: skills to coach others, confidence in one self and others, he should be do as he say or in other words there should be consistency between what he preach and what he does, he should have creative skills and should have an eye for creativity to acknowledge the creativity shown by others (MANNING, 2003, p.364). Some other skills that a leader require is emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence is referred to as the ability to figure out the emotional issues that one is suffering and then helping them to solve those issues. A leader should have a strong vision of the future and should be able to inspire others through the vision and should be motivated towards the long term achievements of the organization. He should be able to not only respond to the needs of his/her team members at the team level, he should address their issues at the individual level as well. A leader should be high in self esteem and should view him positively, he should stand for trust and integrity and pass on the same message to his/her followers. He should have adopted or learned technical skills in order to assist team members when ever required, he/she should have the ability to not only delegate responsibility, he should even delegate authority so followers can accomplish their task in the best manner and he should always provide feedback to employees to keep them motivated. These are some of the characteristics and skills of a leader, these skills and characteristics do overlap with the skills and abilities of a manger, still there is tremendous amount of difference between these two occupations. Several definitions that differentiate leadership from management and managers are available. This does not necessarily means that both these positions cannot be handled by one single individual. One individual has the ability to carry out the responsibilities of a leader as well as a manager. Management is defined as a body that has the power to direct individuals within an organization by administering, supervising these individuals. Both leadership and management have various aspects in common. The principle job of both the responsibilities includes influencing others within an organization, assisting those who are working with them and for them in an organization and working with the aim of setting and achieving aims and objectives for the organization. Even though similarities exist, differences even exist and differences exist to the extreme that people view these responsibilities differently. For example: John Kotter states that leadership is a very old concept that exists in society for several centuries, while the concept of management came into existence only one century ago and this concept came into being due to the factor of industrial revolution experienced throughout the world (PISAPIA, 2009, p.22). Same point of view has been shared by several others. For example: Nanus and Bennis has defined management as the process of attaining aims and objectives and creating routines and they believe that a leader is responsible for influencing others and developing a strong vision of a compelling change (PISAPIA, 2009, p.22). Rost states that the relationship between the leader and the follower is a multidirectional relationship of influence and the relationship between managers and those being managed is a unidirectional relationship of authority and power (KHOSROWPOUR, 2000, p.1039). Zaleznik is of the view that two different people are require to carry out the responsibility of managing and leading (PISAPIA, 2009, p.22). Although these researchers have stated that both these responsibilities are quite different but their activities overlap. For example: When a manager is indulged in the act of influencing members of an organization, he is carrying out the responsibility of a leader. On the other hand, when leaders are carrying out their responsibility of planning, hiring, directing and organization, they are in the shoes of a manager. These means that an individual can act in the shoes of a manager as well the shoes of a leader and he/she changes his shoes in accordance to the task he/she is carrying out. Management is a responsibility that is more oriented towards task accomplishment as compared to leadership and in order to operate in an effective manner, managers need certain skills that are considered as necessary (ROUSSEL, 2013, p.163). Leaders are defined by their traits and personality characteristics and managers are defined by their skills. Skills and traits are two different extreme, skills are referred to as abilities one possesses in order to attain preset aims and objectives. A manager requires three skills embedded within him to operate in an effective manner, these skills include: humanistic, technical as well as conceptual skills (ROUSSEL, 2013, p.492). Technical skills are those skills that are based on knowledge regarding a particular task or activity. These skills even include an individual’s competencies in context of a specific field. Competencies regarding an individual’s analytical ability and the ability to employ and use procedures and tools required to perform a particular job. For example: a manager working in the field of computer software should know the basics of computer programming, the software that are being created and sold by the company and the knowhow of solving issues that are faced by clients who use their software. Humanistic skills are even regarded as people skills, these skills are required so that managers can operate along people working in the organization. These skills are a necessity when a manager is working in corporation with a team in order to achieve aims and objectives. Example of the these skills include: awareness regarding one’s own opinion regarding a certain issue and the opinions of the employees, realization of the needs and motives of employees and giving emphasis to the needs of other during the process of decision making. Conceptual skills are regarded as a manager’s ability to use ideas and concepts produced by the manager himself and the employees. A manager who have appropriate conceptual skills will be able to think and talk about different ideas and solutions and will be able to interpret how these ideas and solutions will assist the organization. If an individual wants to attain the target of becoming an effective manager, he needs to acquire and polish these skills as these skills are required at different levels of management within a particular organization. As a matter of fact, all these skills are even very important for the responsibility of leading an organization in an effective manner. Managers and leaders both use these skills and the only difference that exists is how these skills are used and when these skills are used. Conclusion Individuals have defined leadership and management differently; they have even stated that there are certain similarities between the two responsibilities and lastly it has been stated that one individual can carry out both the responsibilities. Individuals can be regarded as a great leader as well as a manager at the same time but an individual requires to master different skills and characteristics to carry out both the functions. Manager has the task at hand of creating consistency and bringing the organization to order, leadership focuses on change and movement of the organization. While creating order and achieving consistency, a manager is involved in the processes of creating plans and budgets, setting goals and timelines for the achievement of those goals and allocation of resources according to needs. The leader carries out his responsibility by creating a future favorable vision and promotes followers in order to achieve the vision. By gaining expertise in these skills and abilities, an individual can be act as a manager as well as a leader depending on the situation and the task at hand. References INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, & KHOSROWPOUR, M. (2000). Challenges of information technology management in the 21st century. Hershey, Pa, Idea Group Pub. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=42453. MANNING, G., & CURTIS, K. (2003). The art of leadership. Boston, Mass, McGraw-Hill/Irwin. PISAPIA, J. (2009). The strategic leader: new tactics for a globalizing world. Charlotte, N.C., Information Age Pub. ROUSSEL, L. (2013). Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Burlington, MA, Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More