Introduction
The concept of leadership can be broadly defined as the intrinsic ability to internalize a setting with the intention of empowering a group or team to proactively and creatively contribute towards problem solving (Bass 2000).
On the other hand, management, in the broad spectrum, can be defined as the process in an organization that is inclusive of setting, strategic planning, managing resources and deploying the needed resources to realize specific objectives that are measurable within a specified period of time (Bennis& Goldsmith 2003).
Thus, this analytical paper attempts to explicitly analyze the concepts of leadership in terms of its application, scope, and features in the management styles.
Specifically, the treatise adopts a reflective research in exploring the components of leadership and management such as transformational leadership, ‘managerialism’, and organizational realities in the management style of Anita Roddick who founded the Body Shop.
External Environment and Strategic Challenge
By definition, leadership is the capability to internalize the environmental setting that incorporates and empowers a group to creatively contribute towards definite course of addressing a challenge. Reflectively, Anita was not impressed with the services that many beauty shops were offering in the UK.
The aspect of talent envisioned Anita to review her natural skill and ability that gained proficiency through personal experiences to establish an all-round body shop that could allow customers to buy all beauty products within one roof (The Body Shop 2012).
The main characteristics of leadership include adaptability, empowerment, commitment, contribution, and critical problem solving skills. The aspect of adaptability influences the adjustments that may be required in exercising influence over a challenge.
Through these adjustments, Anita was in a position to model a unique setting that reassures and discerns the wants and desires of the subjects. Besides, she inspired self esteem and confidence among the subjects to align their feelings to specific intuition or instinct in her body shop concept.
Through this leadership, she was able to facilitate the degree of empowerment feeling and faith in solutions given to her clients (Bustin 2004).
Leading Others
Since leadership inspires the need to contribute proactively towards creation of a suitable environment for closing the gap that may exist between a challenge and its solution, Anita used creative leadership which is a rich recipe for an imaginative response to stimulation that created a wider chain of adaptation of viable solutions to the demands of her clients (Slack, Chambers, Johnston& Betts 2005).
Through proactive management, Anita rolled out an organized process within her business that involved setting, planning, managing customer demands and deploying assets to achieve specific goals and objectives such as offering competitive prices and convenience to customers.
Since management is about reproducing an action plan and implementing the same, Anita developed solutions that addressed the concerns of her diverse customers with different preferences.
This strategy was successful since Anita inspired trust on the long-range perspective that challenged and concentrated on doing what was right and not ideal for the clients (The Body Shop 2012).
Conclusively, leadership development focuses on how individuals think about themselves and activities that affect these thoughts and feelings in an organizational environment especially during selection, perfection, and persuasion procedures.
Therefore, it is critical to analyze the concept of leadership in management in order to understand the unique features that are independent of each other and have the same scope. Anita successful applied these concepts to develop a successful business empire in the UK.
References
Bass, B. (2000). Bass &Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. The Free Press, New York.
Bennis, W., & Goldsmith, J. (2003).Learning to Lead. New York: Basic Books.
Bustin, G. (2004). Take Charge: How Leaders Profit From Change. Irving, Texas: Tapestry Press.
The Body Shop. (2012). Dame Anita Roddick. Web.