Both management and leadership are important concepts to implement in a company that strives for success. The differences between them are significant and crucial to understanding for executives to be able to reach the goals of a company. It is equally important to see how these differences are applied to criminal justice organizations.
To begin differentiating the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ we need to define them first. According to Radu and Ramona Răducan (2014), a leader is a person who can influence or motivate a team to perform tasks in a certain way using effective communication. The essential instruments of a leader are trust and understanding. Bargau (2015) argues that a manager is a person who can establish stable and reliable operations within a team or organization. Judging from the two definitions, the goals of management and leadership may overlap, but the key difference is in the direction that is implied. A Leader creates a relationship built on trust and motivates his team members to do their job better, therefore, creating a basis for development. A manager orients on a team achieving a particular result.
For example, a police unit is tasked with catching a criminal. A manager would set objectives and deadlines for their completion. A leader will ensure that everyone understands what to do and why is that important. He or she will also make it clear that a result will depend on a coordinated team effort.
However, a successful operation of an organization lies both in the ability of executives to organize a steady operation process and make sure there is a ground for progress. In the field of criminal justice, it is quite important as the criminals regularly elaborate on new ways of breaking the law. Therefore, the judicial system must also adapt to cope with the challenges. For example, a chief of police department implementing a new practice to fight or prevent crime should also make sure that teams cope with every day’s work.
Another dimension where the roles of a manager and leader are different is the duty they fulfill. Bargau (2015) argues that managers are focused more on supervision, planning, scheduling, budget organization, and so on. These responsibilities require strict procedures and direct control. Since they are one of the key things that keep an organization in order, managers orient on overseeing them done correctly and to the full extent. For example, a prison warden is in charge of the whole penitentiary unit and is responsible, among other things, for control of expenditures, planning, and security supervision. The goals and the vision here maybe, in most cases, be self-explanatory, and to meet the goals of a prison-like keeping prisoners fed, clothed, and under control, a warden demands that his or her employees act by the code.
On the other hand, there are tasks centered more on employees and making them use their full potential. This kind of work may be exemplified by tasks that lay ahead of the Major Case Squad. Its commanding officer is charged with the mission of overseeing investigations and making sure the number of solved cases is as high as possible. Since the job of detectives in the department can be creative and personal zeal can play a vital role in achieving a result, a role of a leader here is to motivate and inspire employees to perform at maximum capacity.
All things considered, a good executive should possess the qualities of both manager and leader. Our world is constantly changing, and criminal justice organizations are changing with it. Therefore, senior staff must see the direction of these changes and transfer that vision to juniors to ensure proper motivation and understanding. However, day-to-day operations are equally important, and their management should never be disregarded.
References
Bargau, M. A. (2015). Leadership versus management. Romanian Economic and Business Review, 10(2), 197.
Răducan, R., & Răducan, R. (2014). Leadership and management. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 149, 808-812.