According to Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy (2009), the terms leadership and management have been used in organization interchangeably in describing a position in an organization that has a role of directing. Even thought the terms may seem to have the same meaning, they have their differences. Management is the role of supervision of staff in an organization (Fairholm, 2009).
Mangers in an organization have responsibility that may differ due to their positions in the organization. Individuals in management have a responsibility on creation of plans and the execution of this plans to achieve the goals set by their superiors. A manager runs a certain department in the organization and has to measure how the department is performing in regards to the overall achievement of the goals in the organization.
Am manager has authority of their juniors, oversees the day-to-day running of the department, assigns duties to the employees in his department, and ensures duties are successfully completed in the set deadline. Managers are more involved in directing and controlling in an organization as they are expected to deliver results in the organization.
Leadership can be referred to as an approach that is used in making employees to change. Leaders have the same operational responsibilities that managers have but leaders will carry out the roles conducted by managers in a different way (Fairholm, 2009).
A leader will not just control his juniors by applying his authority, a leader will provide his employees with vision, charisma and help his juniors by instilling pride on what the employees are doing to the organization.
A leader will take care of the employees through positive motivation and paying personalized attention and advice to all the juniors in their department. Leadership is not easy to learn, as it is innate.
Leaders will in most cases poses a high level of emotional intelligence that will enable them not to react to situations but they will proactively react to situations, this will be achieved through them employing tact to make the employees to put extra effort while producing results that are good to the organization.
Leaders are concerned on how they will achieve the long-term goals in the organization, they are therefore key in determining the direction the organization will undertake. Leaders are able to view the organization in a broad perspective, determine the capability and performance of the different aspects in the organization, and ensure they are in line towards the achievement of the organizational goals (Fairholm, 2009).
Leadership qualities are necessary for senior executives in an organization, as they are required to oversee operation of the company as well as provide the strategic plan for the organizationâs future. Leadership qualities in the senior managers in an organization are essential for the success of the organization.
An organization will need to embrace proper management and leadership for it to be successful. Leadership and management are terms that are opposite and work in an organization in complimenting each other.
However good a leader is in developing strategies and ideas, he will need managers to direct the department and ensure the long-term plans are achieved by the organization.
In addition, an effective manager cannot achieve much if the organization lacks a good leader, an organization without a good leader sticks to the status quo and does not plan for the future. An organization without a leader who is charismatic is disastrous as it may lead to low morale amongst staff and lack of direction and purpose by staff.
References
Fairholm, G. (2009). Organizational power politics : tactics in organizational leadership. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
Hughes, R. Ginnett, R. & Curphy G. (2009). Leadership : enhancing the lessons of experience. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.