A manager, a leader, and an entrepreneur play a critical part in a working process. Often, these three definitions are so close that it is difficult to single out a difference between them. However, all of them have some criteria, analyzing which it is easy to define the type of a supervisor and his/her characteristics, as I do in this essay by the example of my supervisor.
Although a leader, a manager, and an entrepreneur have some significant differences, all of them can be described according to specific leadership theories and styles; applying to my personal working experience, I can describe my supervisor as a task-oriented manager whose behavior is likely to be autocratic.
A manager is more concentrated on coordinating and organizing the present working process, while a leader takes a longer view, determining the company’s path forward. In other words, as Landsberg (2011) claims, every manager is “management-oriented” while every leader is “innovation-oriented” (p. 100). A manager applies best efforts to control the employees, and a leader’s main function is to encourage and motivate them. Apart from a leader and a manager, there is also an entrepreneur who projects, launches, and runs a new company – Springer (2013) defines an entrepreneur as a person that should necessarily possess leadership traits and notice different opportunities “where others see the chaos of confusion” (p. 265). As Springer mentions, not every manager or even company owner can be considered to be an entrepreneur – it is more about innovation than simple planning (p. 266).
Concerning my personal working experience, my supervisor can be considered more as a manager than a leader or an entrepreneur. Being a corrections supervisor, he defines the activity of correctional officers and jailers, provides control over the safety of his workers, prisoners, and visitors, manages inspections, etc. He is also responsible for training the new employees and supervising their progress. Based on these duties, it is possible to conclude – although he possesses some leadership traits such as responsibility, trustworthiness, ability to delegate, etc., he is much more of a manager than a leader or an entrepreneur (Doyle, 2016, para. 2, 4, 6, 8). He seems to be a strict and honest supervisor who has well-developed decision-making abilities and communication skills. Some can say that he lacks creativity and flexibility; usually, he insists on strict compliance with all the rules on recommendations. However, his job requires a few of these qualities.
There are two main leadership theories: task-oriented and people-centered or relationship-oriented. A task-oriented leader draws particular attention to the accomplishment of tasks as transitional steps on the way to the main goal. In the case of a relation-oriented leader, he/she also takes into account the needs and desires of all the workers involved in the working process. As for my supervisor, he seems to take a task-oriented approach: for example, he starts every working shift by reading a day plan aloud, emphasizing the duties of different correctional officers. Thanks to his harsh nature and prison discipline, at the end of every shift, a day plan was realized, despite the employees’ feedback or opportunities. In my opinion, a task-oriented approach is the most appropriate for such a job as a corrections supervisor, and there is not a lot of need to decrease its effectiveness, adopting some people-centered approach features.
The choice of a leadership style also influences the supervisor’s behavior in many ways. My supervisor’s leadership style can be defined as autocratic: it is hardly possible to imagine that he lets his employees participate in decision-making, or to express their opinion of the working process, or to take any actions without his advance consent. He lacks some democratic approach methods for efficient organization of the working process.
Finally, it might be concluded that my supervisor is a manager with well-developed leadership skills who prefers a task-oriented approach and autocratic style. Probably, he needs to put attention to some democratic approach features but, in general, his leadership behavior fits the job he does.
References
Doyle, Alison. (2016). Top 10 Leadership Skills. Web.
Landsberg, M. (2011). Chapter 17: Leading or managing? The Tools Of Leadership: Vision, Inspiration, Momentum. London: Profile Books Ltd.
Springer, M. (2013). Chapter 19: Managers, Leaders, and Entrepreneurs. Project and Project Management: A Competency-based Approach. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.