Monday, 30 April 2012

Week 5 - Leadership


Week 5 – Leadership

Leadership and management can often be mistaken as the same thing, however this is definitely not the case. Managers need certain skills in order to be good at what they do, these are –

  • ·         organisation
  • ·         planning
  • ·         staffing
  • ·         directing
  • ·         controlling 

A good manager should have some leadership skills, as directing staff can fall under leadership. It is believed that management is more important than leadership, this is because some groups may already be motivated enough to carry out their given tasks, and some individuals can find leaders dominating. Managers stick to the book more than leaders as they have to carry out company policy, whereas leaders follow their own intuition. Leaders can often be beneficial to a company as they help to motivate staff. In most groups it is common to find that the manager doesn’t emerge as the leader, the leader is normally a subordinate member with talents and skills that can help lead the group in certain directions. Leaders don’t try to control other members of the group, instead they let vision, strategies and goals be the guide-post for accomplishment. Conflict can sometimes arise if a natural leader shines through the group that is under a managers supervision, they could have different views and ideas which would lead them to clash. The manager could also feel like his authority is lessened as the group may look to the leader more than the manager. There are some key areas in which leaders and managers vary, these are –

  • ·         The manager administers; the leader innovates.
  • ·         The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
  • ·         The manager maintains; the leader develops.
  • ·         The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
  • ·         The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
  • ·         The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
  • ·         The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
  • ·         The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.
  • ·         The manager imitates; the leader originates.
  • ·         The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
  • ·         The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.
  • ·         The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

(alan murry, becoming a leader, 1989)

A leader is followed naturally, and it is within the groups free will to follow the leader. However a manager has to be obeyed if you want to keep your job. A manager may not necessarily be the best leader, but he or she would have gained their position through loyalty to the company or good organisational skills. A leader is more likely to have been born with leadership qualities.  
I was at my high school for five years, and through those five years I became extremely familiar with the leaders of the organisation, be it the teachers or pupils. There were some important leaders at the school which were imperative to the schools goals. The highest person up in the school was the headmaster, although he wasn’t a great leader. He did possess the right attributes to be a good manager though, he was very organised, controlling, managed his staff well, always had an appropriate plan and he knew which direction he wanted to head in. However the pupils at the school didn’t see him as a leader, he focused more on the structure of the school as opposed to the pupils and teachers in it. There was a few natural leaders though, when I was at sixth form the person in charge of both upper sixth and lower sixth was known throughout the school as the person who can push you in the right direction. He was always willing to help out students with school work and also problems outside the school gates, he was definitely a ‘pace setter’ from Golemans leadership theory. He had a strong drive to achieve what he sets out to do, whether it’s his own goals or the goals of others. And if you had work that you struggled with he strived to help you out with it. He was an effective leader because he was very approachable and always helped you out when you needed a push in the right direction. I studied ICT and computing for A-Level and my ICT teacher was a great leader. He was very focused on setting you up for the long term, he made school work relevant to the work place and often discussed various jobs that an A-level in ICT could help you get into. So he was very focused on providing a long term vision, this would put him under the ‘Visionary’ leader from Golemans theory. 

Conclusion –

This blog summarises the main differences between leaders and managers and it helps show that managing and leading are two different ways of organising people. Managers follow company policy and use rational methods where as leaders use passion to motivate co-workers. A good example of this is that David Beckham, an ex footballer who is known for his leadership skills went to the 2010 world cup even though he wasn’t picked for the squad. He accompanied the team for motivational purposes, where as the manager put across the aims of the team, and followed strict policy in order to get his team to achieve the best it could.

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