DQ 1-2
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response1-2.docxDQ1-2 responses
1.
Leadership and management have very distinct, but complimentary functions. Leadership is the ability to motivate and get people and ideas moving toward a common goal, while management is the task of getting people to make that idea or goal come to fruition, (Wajdi, 2017).
An assigned leader is the person who has been put in charge of a task or group based on their authority, while an emergent leadership is an individual who begins to lead or take the lead within the group because the assigned leader is not effective or because the emergent leader is someone whose personality, ability or leadership skills draw the group under their authority.
Although you can be a leader without being a manager or a manager without being a leader, this is not often the case. Leaders engage people, have vision and are good at getting people to embrace their objectives, this person has a better chance of being a leader manager because most leaders have followers because of their charisma. While being a manager is more similar to an assigned leader, where their authority is not earned but demanded. They are not leading people but managing them.
In most work places managers are in their position because they can get tasks accomplished, while the owners are more the leaders. Leaders have vision and a plan to make plans for betterment or change. Once those leaders have direction it is handed to a manager to make those plans come to fruition, much like how a City Council as leader, gives direction to a City Administrator to get the task accomplished.
Wajdi, B. (2017). The Differences between Management and Leadership. Sinergi: Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Manajemen, (1). Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.6e281312f8e947028fe7c2d57c46ad53&site=eds-live&scope=site
2.
Re: Topic 1 DQ 2
As stated in our reading assignments there are many descriptions of what leadership is, how it is defined, what are the important characteristics. Northouse (2019) narrows leadership down to this “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” The way this influence is accomplished is where researchers are working, in an attempt to clearly define leadership, characteristics, power, etc. Leadership is really about defining what we should do. Many times, when we discuss leadership in an academic setting, we tend to focus on the macro-level of setting vision and determining strategy. Obviously, there can and should be leaders demonstrating leadership throughout all levels of the organization. The influence of a leader is really a derivative of their power within the organization. Some power comes with the assigned position, for example the Human Resource director can make hiring and firing decisions, that is their job. Emergent leadership is when the members of the organization give the power of influence to an individual. This is something that demonstrates trust, and respect for one’s ability.
Effective Managers are critical to the success of the organization. The talented and effective manager is the one that turns the leader’s vision into a workable plan. Northouse (2019) states “Management was created as a way to reduce chaos in organizations, to make them run more effectively and efficiently. The primary functions of management, as first identified by Fayol (1916), were planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling. These functions are still representative of the field of management today.” Today’s organizations must be efficient in their operations, global competition, reduced profit margins and the speed of change, have all conspired against the bottom line. These factors demand a strong management of processes.
The question then is are these two disciplines mutually exclusive? Research tends to focus on leadership as it is more exciting. Apparently, it is more interesting to create a vision to grow beans organically while becoming a socially conscious corporation (leader), than counting beans (manager). I think of John F. Kennedy challenging the nation to put a man on the moon. He created a vision and challenged a nation. That was an example of leadership. NASA in turn, had to figure out how to make this work, that is management. It is obvious that within the NASA organization there would have been leaders and mangers working to solve problems and create technology to accomplish the strategic vision of the POTUS.
Today I believe that most leaders and managers share characteristics, and skills of both disciplines. Obviously, there will be varying levels of skill sets. Both are important. Organizations need to develop both within their members to ensure they will be capable in meeting challenges.
