Leadership vs. Management: Styles, Strengths, and Health Agency Impact

Introduction

Many people view supervisors and managers as organizational leaders, and in a sense they are; however, supervisory and management positions can be differentiated from true organizational leadership positions by examining their respective roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature that defines leadership and differentiates it from supervisory and management positions, as well as to describe four strengths needed for a leadership position. In addition, the paper presents a discussion of various leadership styles, identifies a specific example of how a leadership role can influence positive change in a health agency, and examines specific contributions that non-supervisory positions can offer to a health agency. Finally, a summary of the research and key findings concerning these leadership issues is presented in the paper's conclusion.

Defining Leadership: Differences from Supervisory and Management Roles

In reality, the actions taken by leaders occasionally resemble those of supervisors and managers, especially in smaller organizations; however, there are some general differences between the positions that help to differentiate them from one another. For instance, according to Belcher (2015), "The manager's job is planning, organizing, and coordinating, while the leader's job is to influence, inspire, and motivate" (p. 56). This definition suggests that leaders are responsible for establishing the vision for an organization and developing the strategies required to achieve it, while managers and supervisors are responsible for accomplishing the day-to-day activities that support that vision and those strategies.

Four Core Strengths for Effective Leadership

Although truly effective leaders draw on different strengths from time to time as the situation demands, four fundamental strengths are needed for any type of leadership position: the ability to communicate effectively, a positive attitude, an overarching sense of trustworthiness, and an unwavering commitment to organizational goals (Doyle, 2018). This is not to say that other strengths — such as integrity, compassion, empathy, and honesty — are unimportant, but the four strengths identified above represent a core set that is essential to leadership success in virtually any organizational setting.

Leadership Styles and Their Applications

Given its inextricable relationship with organizational performance, it is not surprising that a great deal of scholarship has been devoted to identifying different leadership styles over the years. Some of the main leadership styles identified to date include:

• Transformational leadership, which is characterized by changing an organization in ways that facilitate achieving its vision and objectives;
• Transactional leadership, which is characterized by the use of rewards and punishments to motivate subordinates based on their past and current performance levels; and
• Charismatic leadership, which depends on a leader's personal attributes to inspire and motivate subordinates (Dartey-Baah & Mekpor, 2017).

It is important to note that, just as leaders typically draw on several different types of strengths depending on the circumstances, they also tend to use different leadership styles from time to time. For example, a charismatic leadership style might be most appropriate when things are going well and energy levels are high; conversely, a transactional leadership style might be required when careless mistakes continue to be made or safety protocols are not being followed. These issues underscore the reality that there is no "one-size-fits-all" leadership style that works best in all situations. However, the research does indicate that transformational leaders tend to be the most effective in achieving organizational objectives, while transactional leaders are most effective in maintaining the status quo (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014).

Conclusion

The research was consistent in defining leaders differently from supervisors and managers, with the former being responsible for establishing the vision and objectives for the organization while the latter are responsible for the day-to-day activities that will accomplish these outcomes. The research also showed that several strengths are needed for a leadership position, most especially effective communication, a positive attitude, trustworthiness, and a commitment to organizational growth and objectives. In addition, the review of the literature demonstrated that a number of different leadership styles have been identified, including transformational, transactional, and charismatic leadership, each of which applies different motivational techniques to achieve desired results. Finally, both leadership roles and non-supervisory positions can influence positive change in a health agency in a number of ways, including identifying steps that help improve organizational performance and eliminate waste at every opportunity.

References

Belcher, M. (2015, Spring). A tale of transformational leadership. The Public Manager, 44(1), 56–60.

Dartey-Baah, K., & Mekpor, B. (2017, Winter). Emotional intelligence: Does leadership style matter? International Journal of Business, 22(1), 41–44.

Doyle, A. (2018, May 17). Top 10 leadership skills. The Balance Careers.

Nanjundeswaraswamy, T. S., & Swamy, D. K. (2014, February). Leadership styles. Advances in Management, 7(2), 57–61.