Anyone in a supervisory or management role is a leader. However, not everyone in those positions can display true leadership. Great leaders take their management skills and combine them with the individual’s skills to become highly successful and well rounded (Galford & Maruca, 2011). There are certain essential elements that one must possess to succeed in those two positions. This paper will examine my personal elements of leadership and management and examine the differences between leadership roles and management roles.
Personal Elements of Leadership and Management
As a leader and a manager, I always act as a coach. I normally help my team grow and develop by providing them with training in different forms. I usually understand when I need to nurture my team and when I need to push them. As a great leader and a manager, I also understand that every person has different needs. Therefore, I always try hard to provide the essential support that each one of them needs for them to achieve their desired goals.
I am also a transparent leader. Employees usually prefer to have a clear image of where they are putting their efforts. I usually achieve transparency through communication, collective decision making, and informed debate. It is important for the team to know how and why I have come to a decision and in what manner it will impact them. With transparency, I always solve problems faster since the team is always fully aware of the circumstances. With transparency, it is also very easy to build strong teams because transparency always builds trust.
I am also an excellent listener. For me to understand the needs of my team as a manager and a leader, I always listen to them. No one person has all the answers, particularly in today’s complex world. Listening always provides me with access to a variety of ideas and solutions I could not have generated on my own. Listening also expands viewpoints and, as a leader, it usually enables me to address potential matters proactively (White et al., 2013). Listening strengthens interpersonal relations, it also builds trust, increases loyalty, and improves teamwork. As we all know, success is all about putting oneself in another person’s position and seeing things from their own viewpoint.
I also respect my team. Respect is a two ways process; I must give it to earn it in return. I always show respect to my team through trust. No one likes to be micromanaged. Micromanagement always show a lack of trust and it is one of the easy ways of losing trust. I always trust my team and I rarely have a problem working alongside them.
The Difference between Leadership and Management Roles
Many people wonder about the difference between management and leadership. In simple terms, we can define management as a set of processes that always keep a business functioning. The process involves planning, staffing, coordinating, leading, and controlling.
Most managers are leaders, but only if they conduct their leadership roles of management adequately; which entails communication, encouragement, and motivation. However, not every manager is a leader; some have ineffective leadership skills and workers follow instructions from them because they must do so.
Managerial roles are normally an official part of a job description, and juniors follow them because of designation or professional titles. Organizations always hold managers accountable for their acts, along with the acts of their juniors. The title always comes with the power and the honour to appoint, fire, promote, punish, or reward subordinates based on their behaviours and performance.
Leadership, on the other hand, is all about aligning individuals to the vision and goals of the organization through communication, inspiration, and motivation. Leaders are normally followed by their subordinates because of their behaviour, character, and beliefs (Ratcliffe, 2013). Churchill is an example of a great leader, but he is not a manager. Individuals loved him because of his ability to inspire people, his persistent passion, his exclusive strategic insight, and his calm personality.
If a company functions appropriately, management and leadership will occur in tandem. For instance, a target setting, a management role, will only work when there is good leadership. A hospital, for instance, can set a target around the waiting period. For this activity to succeed, a person in the hospital must exercise leadership roles by emphasizing the essential of the activity. The leadership roles will involve inspiring workers by showing how attaining the target will be beneficial to the organization.
Managers always expect their subordinates to follow orders; however, following orders is voluntary in leadership. In other words, leaders have individuals who follow them, and managers have individuals who work for them.
In conclusion, many people wonder about the difference between management and leadership. In simple terms, we can define management as a set of processes that always keep a business functioning. The process involves planning, staffing, coordinating, leading, and controlling. Leadership, on the other hand, is all about aligning individuals to the vision and mission of the organization through communication, inspiration, and motivation. Anyone in a supervisory or management role is a leader. However, not everyone in those positions can display true leadership. There are certain essential personal elements that one must possess to succeed in those two positions.
References
Galford, M, R., & Maruca, F, R. (2011).Your Leadership Legacy. Retrieved from: http://www.yourleadershiplegacy.com/assessment.html
Ratcliffe, R. (2013). What the Difference between leadership and Management. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/careers/difference-between-leadership-management
White, M., Wells, J., & Butterworth, T. (2013). Leadership, a key element of quality improvement in healthcare. Results from a literature review of “lean healthcare” and the productive Ward: releasing time to care initiative. The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, 9(3/4), 90-108.