Leadership vs Management - Essay Example

Leadership and management Introduction Early childhood development programs depend on the ability of the staff to provide a good mix of leadership and management. Leadership entails providing guidance and mentorship to a group while management is the coordination as well the organization of activities with an aim of achieving set objectives (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). Therefore, management is broader and this explains why the success of an organization depends on the experience as well as qualities of its managers. The two concepts have different meanings when it comes to establishment of child development programs. However, it is imperative to note that management and leadership are inseparable. Though they mean different things, there is a linkage between the two. Defining the two concepts is, therefore, difficult because of the inseparability. Nonetheless, a simple differentiation of the two concepts perceives management as the act of planning, organizing and coordination while leadership involves inspiring and motivating a group (Li, 2013). Whichever the definition each concept adopts, they have many similarities and differences which this essay discusses in details. Leadership and management Most differences between leadership and management focus on their functionalities or the context to which individuals apply them. One of the major differences is that management involves administrative functions while leadership entails innovation (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). Therefore, a manager administers and implements goals and objectives of an organization while a leader innovates ways of managing different functions of an organization. Nonetheless, management involves the maintenance of the organization to a desired state while leadership involves development and growth of an organization (Li, 2013). In this case, a manager will strive to maintain the organization to enable it achieve missions while a leader will develop the organization through mentoring, and guidance. Most importantly, management focuses on the structures and systems of an organization while the main focus of leadership is people (Li, 2013). Besides, management strives to control the organization while leadership focuses on building trust since it inspires people. Nonetheless, a manager has short-term view of the organization while leadership envisions what might become of the organization in future (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). All differences above imply that management functions involve accepting status quo while leadership entails confrontation of the status. Therefore, a manager has the obligation to do things in the right manner while a leader chooses to do the right thing. One of the similarities between management and leadership concerns giving direction to others. In this case, managers and leaders direct the activities that others undertake (Vaccaro et al., 2012). Managers direct others since they organize, and oversee performance of different tasks where their main objective is to ensure efficiency of the workforce. On the other hand, leaders direct others through inspiration towards shared visions, and effectiveness. Another similarity between leadership and management is that both concepts entail decision making (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). A leader must make certain decisions on how to handle particular issues while managers also make decisions on the best way of implementing goals and objectives of the organization. Nonetheless, the two concepts deal with people in accomplishing goals (Li, 2013). Besides, management and leadership are action systems. When management as a component of leadership The underlying assumption is that effective management shows good leadership. The implication is that proper management of workforce in the organization equals effective leadership (Li, 2013). Managing a group, therefore, involve directing one’s efforts towards the particular team or part of the organization. There is always a misconception that a manager’s role is to ensure that an organization is faring well through achievement of goals and objectives. However, the manager also needs to work with people to achieve results, and it takes good leadership to manage relationships. Other studies postulate that leadership is one of the integral functions or parts of management (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). However, the influence of a manager on a group depends on his or her job context. Some management functions require directing people as well as leading them through all operations. Therefore, management and leadership may apply interchangeably in organizational context. In this case, leadership involves effective management of the workforce and situations. On the other hand, management also requires good leadership to succeed Describe the most important traits of leadership A good personality trait of a leader is that he or she should have empathy (Dinh, & Lord, 2012). The implication is that leaders should be able to put themselves in the shoes of their staff, and show concern on how they feel about certain issues. Nonetheless, a leader should have honesty as a personality trait. Through honesty, a leader is able to achieve credibility thus avoid possible obstacles that may affect the organization’s performance. A leader should also be flexible where he or she shows passion for new ideas (Li, 2013). Flexibility is an important trait when it comes to problem solving situations. Good communication skill is an important trait of a leader since it entails coordination and direction of commands. A leader should be able to communicate issues, advice and expectations effectively so as to influence good reaction from the staff (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). Evaluate elements of key leadership and management theories There are many theories of leadership and management though all of them focus on traits that make an individual a good manager or a good leader. For instance, trait theories focus on elements that make an individual the perfect leader (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). Traits are what influence individual behaviors, and they also apply to leadership as well as management functions. Nonetheless, there are behavioral theories that concerns what good leaders should do. According to behavioral theories, there are different types of leadership like autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire (DeRue et al., 2011). Besides, Contingency theories focus on situations influence leadership (Briggs, Morrison, & Coleman, 2012). Such theories suggest that leadership and management styles highly depend on the situations at hand. Max weber also developed a theory to explain the management aspect of an organization (DeRue et al., 2011). Since management focuses on rules, commands and authority, bureaucracy is always eminent in all organizational situations. An organizational structure creates hierarchy that commands must follow through leading to bureaucracy. Judge the impact of leadership on the failure or success of an early childhood program Leadership has everything to do with the success or failure of any training program. Leadership entails showing good example to others and giving the right direction according to the situation at hand. An empathetic leadership puts people at heart and inspires them to success. The same applies to childhood programs since children are in their development stages and require people to show them the right direction (Aubrey, Godfrey, & Harris, 2013). Therefore, it takes good leadership to ensure that children develop holistically. Nonetheless, good leadership stresses on effective communication within a group. A good leader should understand the various approaches to communication since leaders may face difficult situations like dealing with children. Therefore, the success of early childhood program will depend on the leader to communicate effectively with the implementers, and encourage the same when dealing with children. On the contrary, bad leadership leads to poor co-ordination, communication and may not have clear goals and objectives (Aubrey, Godfrey, & Harris, 2013). Describe how leadership in early childhood program is different with leadership from other programs The main difference between early childhood leadership program and others is that the focus as well as objectives of the training program is different. The learning program is different from others since it focuses on human development (Aubrey, Godfrey, & Harris, 2013). In this case, the program will focus on theories that explain how humans develop with reference to childhood. Nonetheless, the programs are different since they focus on models that explain learning in early childhood. Nevertheless, objectives of the learning program are different from the conventional ones since they focus on understanding, supporting and advocating for development of children (Li, 2013). Moreover, the program is different since it focuses on understanding the cognitive skills as well as behaviors of children and a leader should also align his or her skills and behaviors to match those of children. Conclusion In summary, the contemporary world uses the terms leadership and management interchangeably though there are eminent differences. Leadership entails giving directions, and inspiring a group to success while management involves focusing on achievement of goals as well as missions of an organization. However, there are instances when management becomes a part of leadership since a leader must be in control of situations. On the other hand, management requires good leadership implying that the two terms are sometimes inseparable. Another focus on this work is on leadership in early childhood training programs where instructors or leaders must be able to understand the different dimensions of training children. References Aubrey, C., Godfrey, R., & Harris, A. (2013). How do they manage? An investigation of early childhood leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 41(1), 5-29. Briggs, A. R., Morrison, M., & Coleman, M. (Eds.). (2012). Research methods in educational leadership and management. London: Sage Publications. DeRue, D. S., Nahrgang, J. D., Wellman, N. E. D., & Humphrey, S. E. (2011). Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: An integration and meta‐analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel Psychology, 64(1), 7-52. Dinh, J. E., & Lord, R. G. (2012). Implications of dispositional and process views of traits for individual difference research in leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), 651-669. Li, M. (2013). Social network and social capital in leadership and management research: A review of causal methods. The leadership quarterly, 24(5), 638-665. Vaccaro, I. G., Jansen, J. J., Van Den Bosch, F. A., & Volberda, H. W. (2012). Management innovation and leadership: the moderating role of organizational size. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1), 28-51. Read More