Explain how a person can be both leaders and manager, why communicating a clear vision is important for communication leaders and how fear and power are interconnected in leadership communication
Leadership and management are linked intrinsically. In other words, it is regularly difficult to differentiate between leadership and management. However, they differ in various aspects. Leaders are often found at management levels. Leaders employ management skills and procedures of measuring performance while at the same time applying the inherent leadership capabilities (Denning, 2007). Even though the objectives of leaders and managers are often different, individuals found in the leadership and management positions often merge the leadership abilities and management skills.
Clear vision creates a perfect virtual picture and direction, which remains critical for leaders. In other words, a vision that is appropriately clear in the minds of the subordinates often offers a strong direction. Therefore, it is necessary for leaders to communicate whatever they want to accomplish through a clear vision (Griffin & Bone, 2013). Good leaders often develop clear strategies geared towards attaining the desired outcome. Communicating a clear vision enables employees to see the big picture and utilize the developed strategies to attain the desired objectives.
While examining power in leadership styles, the concept of authority has to be taken into consideration. The reason is that there is a thin line between power and authority. While power is the ability to order directly, authority is the basis on which power is exercised. Both power and authority in leadership cause fear. In other words, leaders can utilize their positions of authority and power to cause fear or use fear to coerce subordinates to comply with the given orders.
Explain your ideal percentage of work/school/personal time for the balanced leader. Compare that ideal balance to what your life is like. What conclusions can you draw from this comparison?
In the workplace, people often thought of an ideal situation where free time and work often balance. In most cases, people tend to opt for the situation where the time-out and working hours are often equal (Hernez-Broome & Hughes, 2004). In fact, for an ideal balance leader, time off the working hours is often a third or 0.25%. In other words, in a day, leaders would take their time off for only eight hours.
However, that would not always be the case in actual situations. In fact, successful leaders rarely take their time off during the day. Similarly, the majority rarely creates a balance between their time for work and other life activities (Black, 2008). In particular, those who work and study at the same time. In my case, the ideal balance between working hours and time-out is far from being achieved. In fact, I work for many hours compared with the resting time. Such situations are common to the majority who normally find themselves not creating a balance between their working hours and time off.
The conclusion that can be drawn from such comparison is that an ideal balance between working hours and time off duty is often hard to attain, particularly when one is in the position of leadership. However, free time and normal duty remain critical not only for physical and mental health but also for increased productivity. Employees and leaders need to break from their daily routine in order to enhance their productivity and individual wellbeing.
References
Black, C. (2008). Basic black: the essential guide for getting ahead at work (and in life). New York, NY: Three Rivers Press
Denning, S. (2007). The secret language of leadership: How leaders inspire action through narrative. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Griffin, C. & Bone, J. (2013). Invitation to human communication. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hernez-Broome, G. & Hughes, R. J. (2004). Leadership development: Past, present, and future. Human Resource Planning, 27(1), 24–32.