Discussion Board 2
Harold Walker
Liberty University
Abstract
This discussion board will discuss three important topics that I found in chapters one and
two in regards to management and leadership. The three topics I have chosen are leadership, trust
and managerial skills. I feel as though these are the three most interesting subjects as they are all
interconnected and used to cultivate successful businesses
Leadership
Leadership can be defined as a person who guides or directs a group. To gain a better
understanding of leadership one must first recognize the two different subcategories of leaders;
those categories are transformational and transactional. “Transactional leaders guide and
motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying roles and task
management”(Satterlee, 2013, p. 5). Transactional leaders are great at explaining the reasoning
and purpose of an organization and providing their employees with the means to achieve defined
goals. Transformational leaders are quite different; they tend to lead by using their charisma to
inspire their employees to achieve goals that would otherwise be seen as impossible.
“Charismatic leaders have a vision, take risks to make their visions a reality, and are sensitive to
the needs of followers”(Satterlee, 2013, p.5). While both types of leaders use individual ways to
achieve goals both can be very efficient in gaining results.
Trust
“With trust, there is nothing leaders can't get done; without trust, nothing gets done
without lots of pain, cost, and time”(Gladis, 2010). Trust has always been a central part of human
interaction but from a business perspective the word trust takes on a whole different meaning.
For a business to be successful the leader and follower must allow themselves to believe in one
another and the purpose of the organization. If a person doesn’t believe in their peers ability to
get task completed efficiently that person will tend to either over work themselves or do
underhanded things to achieve the desired result. If that same person doesn’t believe in the
purpose of the organization their motivation tends to falter and its harder for them to put the best
effort into their work.
Managerial Skills
One common misperception is that Management and Leadership are one in the same.
Managers tend to deal with planning, organizing and controlling while leadership is a different
facet of management altogether. Management skill can be divided into three subcategories:
Technical Skills, Human Skills, and Conceptual skills. Technical skills are related to a person’s
expertise in their chosen field. “Technical managers aren’t expected always expected to perform
task in their area of expertise but must be able to lead their teams in that specific area” (Tarim,
2015). Human skills are the manager’s ability to work with others around him. Its imperative that
managers be able to interact with their coworkers through different forms of communication as
well as being able to understand their subordinates feelings and applying practices to help them
succeed. In my opinion conceptual skills are the most important part of management.
“Conceptual ability can be seen as an antecedent of effective problem solving and social
judgment skills, and of sophisticated understanding of experiential knowledge”(Engle & Nehrt,
2011). Seeing the bigger picture is an important component of any particular venture a person
decides to take on. A manager must be able to identify and understand his organizations vision or
it’s impossible to lead effectively.
In conclusion, there are many different components that help to differentiate management
and leadership. While in a broad sense most managers are leaders I’ve found that quite often
even though a person is a manager a leader is someone completely different in the organization.
While the manager is often paid handsomely to take care of the task given to him or her the
leader is often the person who inspires the ones around him either through his charisma or his
overall understanding of the overall mission of the organization.
References
Gladis, S. (2010). The trusted leader. T+D, 64(11), 14. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?
url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA241781175&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=dce8ac94234d0
4f4d7181a8e6beca08e
Tarim, T. B. (2015). Managing technical Professionals: why technical managers need people
management skills. Engineering Management Review, 43(2). 5-6. Retrieved from
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?
arnumber=7123218
Engle, R. L., Nehrt, C. (2011). Conceptual Ability, Emotional Intelligence, and Relationship
Management: A Multinational Study. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 12(4).
58-72. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/885134574?pq-
origsite=summon&accountid=12085
Satterlee, A. (2013). Organizational Management & Leadership: A Christian Perspective.
Raleigh, NC: Synergistics International.
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