Leadership vs Management

Manager or Leader

Management and leadership are two terms that are commonly used interchangeably though they refer to relatively different concepts. Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson (2013) define management as a process that involves working with and through people and groups as well as allocating resources toward accomplishing organizational goals. On the other hand, leadership is a wider concept than management since it involves influencing the behavior of a person or group for whatever reason. Since leadership is a wider concept, management is a certain type of leadership whose main focus is the achievement of organizational goals. This implies that management is limited in terms of its focus on organizational goals while leadership is wider since it emphasizes influencing others for whatever reason. The leadership process may entail influencing others for personal reasons or for the purpose and benefit of others. These goals may be in line with or differ from organizational goals, which in turn demonstrates the wider nature of the concept of leadership.
Even though management and leadership are relatively different, managers need to possess leadership skills. Leadership skills are essential in management because the latter requires influencing others toward the achievement of organizational goals. In essence, it’s impossible for a manager to successful work with others toward achieving organizational objectives without influence. My current principal is a manager who has some positive and negative leadership characteristics. Based on her attributes and what constitutes a good leader, she is not a good leader. This is primarily because she has more negative characteristics than positive ones. The only positive characteristic about my current principal is that she is knowledgeable about school law, policy and procedures. Her knowledge and understanding of these law, policy and procedures is critical toward her effectiveness as a manager in accomplishing the school’s objectives.
However, I believe she is not a good leader because she portrays more negative characteristics, which inhibit her effectiveness in influencing others toward achievement of the school’s goals and objectives. She tends to be inconsistent, closed-minded, assign blame, and ego-centric. Additionally, she is not a good leader because she lacks transparency in nearly all her responsibilities and is a poor communicator.
Competencies of Leadership and Skills of a Manager
Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson (2013) state that there are three competencies of leadership i.e. diagnosing, adapting, and communicating. These three competencies of leadership are critical towards the effectiveness of a leader in influencing others for personal reasons or for the benefit of others. Diagnosing is regarded as a cognitive or cerebral competency of leadership since it entails understanding the particular situation to be influenced. Good leaders need to understand the current situation as it is and know what it would look like in the future after influencing it. On the other hand, adapting is a behavioral competency that changing the behaviors of the leader and others as well as allocating the available resources to meet the eventualities of the situation. These resources are allocated and redirected in a manner that closes the gap between the current and desired situation. Communicating is a process competency since effective communication is necessary toward altering the current situation to a desired state while interacting with others.
The necessary skills of a manager can be divided into three categories i.e. technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills. These skills are necessary toward the effectiveness of a manager in working with others to accomplish organizational goals. Technical skills refer to requisite knowledge, techniques, equipment and methods to carry out key activities and tasks. In contrast, human skills refer to skills of relating to people such as communication and problem-solving skills whereas conceptual skills are those relating to navigating ideas, patterns, and trends (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2013). Conceptual skills help the manager to understand the complexities and direction of the organization, the context with which the organization operates, and how they are aligned.
With regards to the competencies of leadership and skills of a manager, my strengths include effective human skills, conceptual skills, diagnosing, and communicating. I have the capability to effectively examine and understand an organization’s direction and work with others towards realizing the desired goals and objectives. However, I have weaknesses in adapting competency and technical skills that are necessary for effectiveness in my role. As a result, I will meet my goals as an administrator through enhancing my knowledge and skills in leadership and management through this course. I will also conduct a self-assessment of my personal attributes and engage in professional development measures like leadership and workshops to enhance my competencies and address my weaknesses.
I have decided to engage in educational leadership since it will provide me with an opportunity to help others i.e. students to achieve their life goals. A career in educational leadership provides a suitable avenue for me to help others develop and grow as they work toward achieving the life goals. Since adolescence, I have always had an intrinsic desire to help others accomplish their life goals. I have always viewed myself as a bridge that enables people to progress from their present state to realize their full potential. As a result, I chose the field of education since it gives me an opportunity to achieve this life-long dream. Educational leadership gives me the avenue to influence people and processes for the betterment of others. Besides, educational leadership will also enable me to develop my management skills and competencies through working with other school administrators and leaders.
Reference
Hersey, P.H., Blanchard, K.H. & Johnson, D.E. (2013). Management of organizational behavior: leading human resources (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.