The Importance of Leadership in Nursing - Term Paper Example

Running Header: Leadership verses management Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Management 3 Leadership 4 Leadership characteristics 5 Differences between management and leadership 6 Team work in leadership and management 7 Excellent organizations 8 Conclusion 8 Introduction Leadership and management have been discussed to be very close words and some people use them interchangeably. In other cases most of the people see them as being extreme. The following discussion will entail what other researchers have found out to comprise leadership and management and what are the differences. Some are considered to play both roles of a leader and a manager very well. For the organizations they need very efficient managers and leaders for them to run very well. In the medical field and nursing in particular is very critical area in the society and good leadership and management is required so that the community gets the best services and to save lives where is required as well (Adair, 2007). There are some similarities that are found in both the management and leadership like both are used to influence their employees and both positions have power and authority. The differences that are found is that management most of the time is task oriented while leadership is more of visionary and inspirational but research has indicated that a person can perform the duties of a manager and a leader at the same time very efficiently. Most of the leaders are also found to be good managers in many organisations. In the medical field the leaders who are required are one that understand the requirement of the patients and respond to their grievances very quickly (Neely & Adams, 2008). The leaders and the managers have to be of the same field with their employees or the people they are leading and managing. Management First, a lot of changes that has been occurring in the management level and most of the young people seem to know more than their leaders. For example, for the last ten years technology has brought a lot of changes in the work places and most of the technical staff sees their managers as if they do not understand technology. Secondly, most of the managers want their employees to follow instructions without asking questions (Neely & Adams, 2008). All the rules and regulations they come up with have to followed to the letter without any negotiation. Despite the fact that the employees see a manager as leader who is supposed to be followed, he should not be authoritative and mistreat the employees. Leadership Firstly, in most of the cases people or employees follow leaders because; they do fear them, they do have some hope of success, they do trust the leader, they are excited by the mission or the project or they have an opportunity for them to stretch to the limit. Researchers indicate that a transformational leader should create a vision which will inspire the employees or the people with ideal targets which can be achieved (Sanborn, 2009). Secondly, the leaders on the other had should make people feel that they are the best employees and they are able to achieve whatever they can think of. Additionally, in most of the cases the leaders act to motivates people by giving them hope that things will be better than they are today and promise of a better future. Thirdly, a leader who is strategic makes sure that he is aware of the company’s future and he will pull resources from different areas to achieve it (Sanborn, 2009). The leaders who are operational they perform the duties of making sure that they implement the vision of the company. Both types of leaders can make the organization and teams successful by building trust with the employees, coaching, motivating people and selecting the best talent that are available in the country (Kotter, 2008). In most of the cases leaders choose their talent to the team according to their ability to work with others. Furthermore, leaders who are considered to be the best they are normally not afraid to have workers who know more than them. The researchers suggest that the leaders who hire people who know more than them they are the best because they make sure that the people in the company are resourceful and they are of much help. The leaders think motivation in terms of reasons, relationships, rewards and responsibilities. Leadership characteristics First, most of the leaders are the one that are considered to come up with responsibilities that make sure that person values and competence are evaluated (Northouse, 2007). But it is not always the case always. Responsibilities are considered motivating when people are involved in activities that require them to use the knowledge they have and they can include practising one’s ability, giving help to others, coming up with something new and being of value to the clients/customers (Kaplan & Norton, 2008). The production of highly motivated people can be accelerated by the use of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. The success of people should be considered by rewarding them and this motivates other staffs even to work more and give out the best results. The best leader also coaches the staff about the new changes in the career growth and what they can do to make life better. This makes the staff to keep on track on areas concerning the business or the employment. For example in the nursing department, the nurses can be motivated by being paid for overtime being paid and also recognised for doing excellent work. They can also be taken for holidays to break the monotony of the job and to relax (Collins, 2008). Additionally, motivation by the leaders is one of the key areas that help the organisation to grow and to carry out its activities very well because they have the energy and also there are some hope that they will be rewarded for whatever they do. There was research that was done by Jim Collins in 2009 which showed that those companies that transformed from good to great performances and maintained it they followed a particular management and leadership hierarchy. Differences between management and leadership First, managers are normally concerned with the management of the organisation and to make sure that the operations are running as they are supposed to. Secondly, managers achieve their goals via functions such as controlling, problems solving, staffing, organization, organizing, budgeting and planning. On the other hand the leaders are supposed to inspire, motivate, align people and direct them (Kotterman, 2008). Some researchers say that the leader has creativity, passion and soul while the manager has persistence, rational and has the mind. A leader is considered to be independent, innovative, courageous, inspiring and flexible while the manager is stabilizing, authoritative, deliberate, analytical and consulting. In addition, researchers say that leadership is the influence to a group of individuals by an individual to accomplish some task. The research shows that there are different kinds of leadership which vary from one group to the other. The different versions of the definition are; it must occur in a group, it all about influence to other people, it must have some goals to achieve and others say it is a lengthy process which takes time (Yukl, 2009). In the management part, it involves facilitating meeting which will be held and helping in solving problems. The management tasks are normally not undertaken by one person but they can be carried out by different people. One person can do budgeting, the other member of the team can do planning and a third person can monitor of the whole process (Stogdill, 2009). The responsibilities can be shared by all the members of the team. Good management can be produced without having a good manager unlike in leadership where the leader has to be good to lead people in the right direction. The researchers have indicated that there have been a numbers of cases where the team members are able to carry out their task without having to rely on the management. Team work in leadership and management Team work is considered to the working together of the employee to achieve some goals. The team members are in position to decide for themselves the tasks they can carry out and the ones they can delegate to their managers. In the medical field the nurses should be in position to handle some issues without having to involve their managers and only consult him on cases which seem to out hand. For the minor cases, they should be handled with the department they occur and delegation to the respective staff should be done internally. Despite the fact that the nurses can guide themselves in minor duties management is required for the allocation of duties. In most of the cases nurses and doctors work in shifts and they have to allocate properly their time to follow easily. One of the researchers gave a scenario of the assembling plant of Boeing 777 where there is one manager and all the employees are 175 people (Tangen, 2007). The total numbers of teams are ten and each has one director. The teams are ones who decide who does what i.e. preparation of training schedules, overtime and vacations. They also deal with issues related to work ethics and the productivity of the team members. In most of the cases they are not given incentives but only promotion for those who have done excellent work and the most motivate is for them to produce one of the trusted engine in the aircraft industry. The team members are normally sent to training to be able to deal with related to human resource, computer systems and supplying problems. Excellent organizations In addition there is a philosophy by the name Total Quality Management (TQM) which is based on some principles like focus to the customer, involvement of everyone and continuous improvement. (González & Guillén, 2009). It also gives some highlights on leadership and commitment. The managers should be in a position to make decision that will make the organisation to grow and serve customer better. The customer satisfaction is one of the key areas where the organisation should concentrate on (Capowski, 2008). Most of the organisation that have the best customer service they also have better returns compared to the ones that do not have. The leaders and the managers have to be of the same field with their employees or the people they are leading. The leaders and managers should motivate their employees to get the best returns from them and they are the one who run the organizations so they should be good examples to their colleagues. Conclusion Leadership and management have been seen to be the key drivers of the organisation. If the management is well organized it will help to run the organization smoothly and make sure that the activities are running well (Collins, 2008). Every organisation has to have a leader who facilitates in decision making and to make sure that the rules are followed. In nursing leadership is very critical and it has to given priority because it deals with issues that concern human life. Finally, although most research gives different opinions concerning the management and leadership, there can be an agreement that they are very close and their main aim is to make the organisation move to the next level and to manage what it already have. References Adair, J. (2007) Action-Centred Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill. Bass, B. (2009) Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press. Capowski, G. (2008), Anatomy of a leader: where are the leader of tomorrow?, Management Review, 83(3),10-18 Collins, J. (2008), Level 5 Leadership, The Triumph of humility and fierce resolve, Harvard Business Review, 79(3), 66-76 González T.F., & Guillén M. (2009), Leadership ethical dimension: a requirement in TQM implementation, The TQM Magazine, 28(6), 150 – 164. Kaplan R.S., & Norton D. P. (2008), Putting the Balanced Scorecard to Work, Harvard Business Review, 91(6)134-147. Katz, R. L. (2009). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 48(8),33- 42. Kotter, J. P., (2008), What leaders really do?, Harvard Business Review, 93(5), 85-96. Kotter, J. (2008). A force for change: How leadership dif­fers from management. New York: Free Press. Kotterman, J., (2009), Leadership vs Management: What’s the difference?, Journal for Quality & Participation, 8(5), 13-17 McGregor, D. (2009) The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw Hill. Northouse, P. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. CA: Sage Publications. Neely A., & Adams C. (2007), "The Performance Prism in Practice”, Measuring Business Excellence, 8(6), 6-12 Sanborn, M. (2009). You don’t need to be a leader, New York:Doubleday. Stogdill, R. (2008) Handbook of Leadership, New York: Free Press. Tangen S., (2007), “Performance measurement: from philosophy to practice”, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 57(9), 726-737 Yukl, G., (2009), “Managerial Leadership: a review of theory and research”, Journal of Management, 25(6), 251-290 Read More