Leadership and Management - Relationship & Differences

Leadership is challenging in itself. It's the unique way of leading others and towards the same objective. Leadership is the art to lead, Management is the process that requires strategic planning and setting purposes or goals. Leadership instills the trust of others to get the best out of them to accomplish the goal. Leadership can be obtained in a willingly and enthusiastic manner which can serve as extra motivation. A leader is someone that has a large number of people following him, as their inspiration.

Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal (Kruse, 2013). A leader is a person who holds a dominant position in a given field and can influence a group of people toward the achievement of objectives or goals. A leader works in the desired direction. Has good communication skills, decision making and has a clear vision. Is responsible for accountability, commitment, and encouraging others. Management is the peculiar discipline of managing things within an organization in the best manner.

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It's the ability to accomplish the mission through and with others. Management is fundamental in ensuring an organization maintains its productivity and serves as stability within the organization. The manager is the employer of the organization is in charge of the organization. Manages the entire efforts of the organization, takes routine decisions and has a group of subordinates who reports to him. Planning to decide before-hand. Organizing activities and tasks. 'Management is about seeking order and stability, leadership is about seeking adaptive and constructive change' (Northouse, 2019).

Staffing is responsible for the recruitment of the organization. Directing by guiding and supervising the subordinates to ensure the right direction. Controlling by monitoring the activities of work and establishing standards and company them with the actual performance to take necessary steps. Coordination by integrating the activities of the organization and synchronizing the efforts. 'The distinction is simply between a manager's attention to how things get done and a leader to what the events and decisions mean to participants' (Zalenik, p.78). Leaders are more focused on how the organization will grow and prosper, whereas managers are there to ensure stability and how things will continue to operate productively for the organization. Leaders are focused on the result, getting to the desired goal no matter what hurdles or obstacles in the way, they are willing to delay closure to understand the issues more fully. As Zalenik stated, 'The difference between managers and leaders, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in their psyches, of chaos and order' (p.74).

Traits and Characteristics

Leaders and managers have different traits and characteristics which define who they are. We will discuss a few traits and characteristics of each to get a bet understanding of each quality. A leader and a manager traits characteristic are as follows: Leaders are strong communication, passion and commitment, and innovation. A leader is a strong communicator, having strong communication skills is essential for a great leader. Conveying to your team what you are trying to accomplish is fundamental in a leader. Passion and commitment are needed as a leader, enthusiasm for your subordinates' projects excitement because they can see and feel your dedication. Innovation, being a strong leader requires practicality and realism, but just as important in having innovation and coming up with new ideas.

Manager traits and characteristics are reliability, time management, and confidence. Reliability, being available for your employees, getting things done that you said you would, and supporting your team however needed. Time management, prioritizing your day, making sure you have time to communicate with your employees and accomplishing goals throughout the week. Confidence, you need to be confident in your abilities, experience, and decisions.

Key Differences between Leadership and Management

Leadership is a virtue of leading people through encouraging them, management is a process of managing the activities of the organization. Leadership is the skill of leading others by example. Management is an art of systematically organizing and coordinating things in an efficient way. Leadership requires the trust of followers on his leader. Leadership there is a strong emphasis on Inspiring people. Management there is a strong emphasis on managing activities. Unlike Management, which needs control of the manager over its subordinates. Leadership demands the foresightedness of leader, but management has a short-range version. In leadership, principles, and guidelines are established, whereas, in the case of management, policies and procedures are implemented. Leadership is Proactive. Conversely, management is reactive in nature. Leadership brings change. On the other hand, management brings stability. 'Management embraces process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure to understand the issues more fully' (Zalenik,1977). Leadership there is a strong emphasis on Inspiring people. Management there is a strong emphasis on managing activities. The manager reacts to change. Leader promotes change. The manager avoids conflict. A leader uses conflict as an asset. The manager has a short-range perspective. The leader has a long-range perspective

Personal Assessment

Leadership and Management are inseparable in nature, if there is management, there is leadership. The qualities of a manager require leadership skills to inspire his subordinates. Leaders and managers are two types of people who understand their stance on authority within the organization, they understand the system and processes. In an organization, you can see both management and leadership. Leadership is a set of processes involving creating a vision of the future and a strategy for getting there. It involved getting all the people within the organization to buy into it and creating an environment that motivates those people that inspire these people to make that vision a reality. Leadership creates in a sense the systems that managers manage or it takes them in fundamental ways to raise standards. Management takes a system an organization of people and technology and makes it function the way it's supposed to function or designed to work. Many times, managers play the role of a leader too, at the demand of the organization. So, they both go side by side as a complement to each other. 'Management develops the capacity to achieve its plan by organizing and staffing- creating an organizational structure and set of jobs for accomplishing plan requirements, devising systems to monitor implementation. The equivalent leadership activity, however, is aligning people. This means communicating the new direction to those who can create coalitions that understand the vision and commitment to its achievements' (Kotter, p.86).

Reflective Analysis

3 insights gained in leadership and management, and/or personal effectiveness.

One insight that I've gained is that both leaders and managers are knowledgeable and their experience goes a long way with how each is viewed within the organization.

A leader always has the future in mind, to bring change, whereas, a manager is in the now, stability in mind.