leadership vs management

Is there a distinction between leadership and management? A recap. Management Policies and Procedures, 2(3), pp. 71-82.

In his article “Are leadership and management different?” Algahtani asks, “Are leadership and management different?” A review” clarifies the distinctions between the principles of leadership and management. According to the source, some people consider the terminologies to be interchangeable, while others consider them to be two distinct terms. The author’s goal is to assess whether management differs from leadership by highlighting numerous parallels and distinctions between the two. According to the author’s viewpoint and the observations, the two concepts serve distinct purposes that differentiate them. In the article, it is proposed that management skills are useful in planning, building and directing organizational systems that are focused at accomplishing a set of goals and missions. On the other hand, it is noted that leadership skills are useful in focusing a potential change that is to be attained through establishment of direction, motivation, inspiration and aligning of people for the same potential change.

Presentation of the historical comparison of the characteristics of the manager and a leader makes the resource important for the research project because it offers an insightful view into the functions played by either of them. Therefore, students can understand that though a leader and a manager may not necessarily be different people, the roles they play are distinguishable. Also, the article provides an overview of how the two concepts can be merged in today’s working environment to realize an optimal effectiveness in an organization so that one attains competitive advantage within the marketplace. A conclusion that smooth functioning workplace requires managers who will maintain effective utilization of resource and leaders who will be in a position to cope with the ever changing challenges put to rest the debate on whether leaders should replace managers in today’s work place.

Ali, A. (2013). How to differentiate between ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ Function in Organization: A Review of Scholarly Thoughts.

Ali, in the article, “How to differentiate between ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ Function in Organization: A Review of Scholarly Thoughts,” seeks to clearly demonstrate the distinction between management as a concept that has the role of maintenance and leadership concept that is perceived to be innovative and effective in performing what is needed. The author analyses various scholarly literature that has been developed in an attempt to differentiate between the concepts. Analysis of the literature establishes that one hypothesis has been supported by most of the scholars: leaders are better compared to managers. Quoting various scholars in the field, Ali notes that the studies conducted indicate that scholars emphasize the development of leaders more than they do managers within the same organizations. He therefore proposes that the already developed managers who are working can be reshaped into leaders through appropriate mentoring and training.

Ali presents sane advice for the managers already working to embrace the paradigm shift and join mentorship programs which will contribute to development of leaders out of managers. The resource is critical for the research project as it offers succinct analysis of the contemporary conceptions on leadership. Through the qualitative design used by the author, the students are able to examine the perceptions of the concepts as proposed by various scholars. Also, some of the arguments made by Ali regarding the managers being unable to contribute to communication between departments and the subordinates in relation to the ability of the leader ensuring that the employees and the subordinates remain on the right track indicates that today’s working environment require more leaders than it does managers. However, by concluding that proper leadership style depends on the effective management demonstrates the impartiality and an honest approach to literature making it a reliable resource for the project.

Cooke, A. (2015). Management & Leadership.

In the article, ”Management and Leadership,” Cooke examines the relationship between management and leadership in a business setting as well as the underlying differences. In his view, Cooke poses that management and leadership can be considered as different roles and not different people. Cooke seeks to expound on the hypothesis that all leaders are managers in most if not all circumstances but not all managers can be perceived to be leaders.

Cooke explains the difference by posing that, in a business setting, different people occupy control positions and are accorded the titles of managers, directors, or supervisors. The titles they are given for the positions they occupy may be as a result of the management skills they may have, like having the ability to effectively schedule time, manage budgets, among others. However, these skills do not qualify one to become a leader because they will inspire people to follow one. As such, Cooke concludes that, when no one follows a manager, then the person does not qualify as a leader. Another implication is that one can become a leader without having any formal authority accorded to them.

The article by Cooke is critical to the research project because the author develops a systematic view of the differences between leadership and management to demonstrate how the two can be fused to strike a balance between them for higher productivity. Besides, the development of the leadership and management matrix is vital to the research project as it outlines the possible scenarios where there may be imbalances between the two and the resulting consequences.

Daire, J., Gilson, L., & Cleary, S. (2014). Developing leadership and management competencies in low and middle-income country health systems: a review of the literature. Cape Town: Resilient and Responsive Health Systems (RESYST).

The article, ”Developing leadership and management competencies in low and middle-income country health systems: a review of the literature,” analyses the relationship between leadership and management and how they impact competence in a healthcare setting. According to the authors, leadership is distinct from management in practice as they overlap. It is proposed that management is the task-oriented set of processes like staffing budgeting, problem-solving, planning, controlling, and organizing. On the contrary, Daire, Gilson, and Cleary establish that leadership is solely the process by which one enables other people to work and function under specific contexts. As such, leadership involves creating vision that will inspire a strategic direction to be followed by the organization. Further, leadership contributes to communicating of the common vision to the stakeholders, motivation, inspiration, and alignment of the actors within an organization for the realization of the created vision.

The resource by Daire, Gilson, and Cleary is essential for the research project as it discusses the differences between managers and leaders and what their role is in healthcare as a sample organization. The article offers an explanation on the scope of leadership in the healthcare sector in which the leader is expected to promote cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, and social intelligence as competencies for the nurses to be motivated to acquire therefore, the resource is a multidimensional perspective on the concepts of management and leadership and how they are critical in organizational competence improvement.

Dignam, D., Duffield, C., Stasa, H., Gray, J., Jackson, D., & Daly, J. (2012). Management and leadership in nursing: an Australian educational perspective. Journal of nursing management, 20(1), 65-71.

The authors to the article, ”Management and leadership in nursing: an Australian educational perspective” sought to present an Australian perspective on the concepts of management and leadership and how they apply to the nursing issues. In the article, the authors evaluate the role played by nurse leaders and the managers in nursing and how the two work together to promote performance in the nursing sector. Issues like uncertainty, high pressure, rapid change, and unprecedented challenges to nursing are analyzed on the basis of how a manager or a nurse leader can handle such issues on daily basis.

Evaluation of the challenges in management of the nursing sector and how leadership skill can be channeled in handling the challenges make the resource indispensable and critical to the research project as it offers an honest perspective and an encouraging approach to understanding the relationship between the two. Furthermore, examination of the current imperatives and trends in leadership in nursing and the reflection on management make the article essential in generating discussions on how the concepts can be applied in today’s working environment. The conclusions drawn by the authors regarding education to the managers and nurse leaders are appropriate for the research project as they provide an engagement of continuous improvement of the individual skills that will be sharpened for ensuring competence in the service delivery and evidence-based nursing for Australia.

Kotter, J. P. (2013). Management is (still) not leadership. Harvard Business Review, 9.

Kotter, in the article, ”Management is (Still) Not Leadership”, he analyses the aspects of effective leadership and how it differs from management. He points out that though people use the two terminologies interchangeable, they are not synonymous. To explain the differences between the two, he outlines three mistakes that people make in attempting to use the words interchangeably. Firstly, he proposes that people fail to realize the vital functions played by each of the terms. Also, people tend to consider those at the top level of the hierarchy as leaders followed by managers below them, and the rest to be workers. Lastly, people consider leaders to be a personality in which one is charismatic, which leads to elimination of most people who may otherwise be termed as leaders.

Kotter notes that management consists of the various processes that contribute to predictable performance of an organization. Therefore, management activities that help in maintaining consistency in quality and production and budgeting in an organization. Leadership, as Kotter proposes in the article, differs from management as it is concerned with steering the organization into the future and creating opportunities that can fast be exploited by the organization for faster development. Leadership revolves around creating vision, empowerment, and production of change that can be bought in the people.

The article is useful for the research as it de-mystifies the notion held by people in which it is presumed that management should be replaced by leadership. As Kotter notes, the current organizations need stable and well-functioning management that will ensure that the organization that can sustain itself with the available resources that are planned through management. Therefore, it is realized that, though management and leadership may be different, they both serve varied but vital functions in the success of an organization.

La Rue, K. S., Alegre, J. C., Murei, L., Bragar, J., Thatte, N., Kibunga, P., & Cheburet, S. (2012). Strengthening management and leadership practices to increase health-service delivery in Kenya: an evidence-based approach. Human resources for health, 10(1), 25.

The article, ”Strengthening management and leadership practices to increase health-service delivery in Kenya: an evidence-based approach,” is aimed at testing the perspective that health systems can be improved through improvement of management and leadership skills. Furthermore, the authors propose that improvement of the skills will result in increased health care service delivery outcomes. Researchers conducted the study in six Kenyan provinces through a non-randomized design in which crucial service delivery indicators were addressed through administration of training against the areas that did not receive the training. The writing of the article suggest that leaders promote the individual interest in improvement of service delivery in the healthcare system. In the same manner, the management skills possessed by each individual in the healthcare system is channeled into promoting humanity so that the service delivery embodies honesty regarding distribution of the available resources.

Based on the manner in which the study was conducted, the article is vital for the research project as it offers a detailed description that is timely and much detailed. Furthermore, the results from the study indicate that training interventions promoted the service delivery processes in the health care facilities. The authors conclude that training strengthens the management and leadership skills for the health teams which contributes to team-based approach to service delivery. Thus, the conclusions drawn by the authors offer a real world perspective on how leadership and management skills can be applied in today’s working environment for improvement of the healthcare system.

Morison, S., & McMullan, C. (2013). Preparing for the future: challenges and opportunities for management and leadership skills. British dental journal, 214(1), E2-E2.

Morison and McMullan, in their article, ”Preparing for the future: challenges and opportunities for management and leadership skills,” they seek to explore the perceptions of the dentists on the existing leadership for the dental profession. The article articulates that leadership involves individuals developing a sense of focus so that the followers can be indulged in comprehending the essence of focus in resolving current problems in the dental profession. Similarly, management under dental profession has been examined which has revealed that planning for education at all levels is aimed at promoting the efficacy of the dental professionals to ensure the profession is geared forward. Effective utilization of the available resources to promote leadership education is a vital aspect in ensuring dental leaders are prepared for leading amid the past and present problems that have been caused by previous dental leaders.

The resource can be included in the research project as the discussion on developing effective leaders provide a peculiar view to how leadership and management concepts can be applied in today’s working environment. Providing a case scenario like the United Kingdom dental profession presents a reality check for the inclusion of the leadership skills in the contemporary world. Besides, by highlighting the areas that need to be addressed in future regarding dental health, the students are offered a chance to engage in an insightful analysis of the challenges faced by dental leaders in the management of the profession and the expected management improvement through training.

Nayar, V. (2013). Three differences between managers and leaders. Harvard Business Review, 8, 2013.

The author for the article offers an explanation on three key differences between leaders and managers from the perspective of a subordinate. To discuss the differences, Nayar presents a case scenario where a manager asks one of the subordinates to explain how one can understand to have changed from being a manager to being a leader. In the article, three tests are proposed to be some of the methods in the criteria for determining when one is a leader and when one is a manager. Firstly, Nayar posits that there exists a difference between counting value and creating the value. Therefore, managers count value as they will ask the subordinates to perform a duty and report how much they have achieved after a period. However, a leader is considered to create value in a way that they lead by example, that is, a leader will perform one act to show the team that they are supposed to do another task.

Moreover, the author suggests that managers are known to create circles of power under which the subordinates operate while leaders create circles of influence to impact their followers. Lastly, leadership entails influencing, motivating, and enabling other people to offer contribution towards attaining a certain organizational goal, while management revolves around control of a given group for the sake of achieving a particular goal. To sum up, Nayar concludes that considering the example of a great world leader, M.K Gandhi, who inspired the followers by walking with them as they fought for their rights, it is noted that leaders are supposed to inspire and motivate their followers contrary to the managers who control their subordinates.

Simonet, D. V., & Tett, R. P. (2013). Five perspectives on the leadership–management relationship: a competency-based evaluation and integration. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(2), 199-213.

Simonet and Tett, in the article, ”Five perspectives on the leadership–management relationship: a competency-based evaluation and integration,” seek to establish the conceptualization of both terminologies in relation to one another. In their view, research on both concepts should be streamlined to focus on establishing the link between the two rather than finding the points of difference. As such, the authors pointed out five distinct approaches to the conceptualization of the two. According to their literature review, the identified perspectives were hierarchical management, hierarchical leadership, uni-dimensional, bipolar, and bi-dimensional. From the analysis, it is observed that one exists in the presence of the other, that is, leadership is embedded in management under hierarchical leadership, while management is embedded in hierarchical management.

The discussion of the practical and theoretical implications in the understanding of leadership and management theory make the resource essential to the research project as the authors present a descriptive, and well-researched argument on both concepts. In fact, bipolarity perspective demonstrates that managers are presented as problem-solvers focused on past reactions while the leaders are hailed for developing future driven goals. The distinction brings about appropriate discussion on whether bureaucracy should be challenged in analyzing today’s roles of managers and leaders in the working environment. Proposition for practical view of both concepts makes it easy for the inclusion of the information from the article in the research project because as people seek for stability, both managers and leaders reinforce each other and thus cannot be viewed as merely two endpoints to one continuum.

References

Algahtani, A. (2014). Are leadership and management different? A review. Journal of management policies and practices, 2(3), 71-82.

Ali, A. (2013). How to differentiate between ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ Function in Organization: A Review of Scholarly Thoughts.

Cooke, A. (2015). Management & Leadership.

Daire, J., Gilson, L., & Cleary, S. (2014). Developing leadership and management competencies in low and middle-income country health systems: a review of the literature. Cape Town: Resilient and Responsive Health Systems (RESYST).

Dignam, D., Duffield, C., Stasa, H., Gray, J., Jackson, D., & Daly, J. (2012). Management and leadership in nursing: an Australian educational perspective. Journal of nursing management, 20(1), 65-71.

Kotter, J. P. (2013). Management is (still) not leadership. Harvard Business Review, 9.

La Rue, K. S., Alegre, J. C., Murei, L., Bragar, J., Thatte, N., Kibunga, P., & Cheburet, S. (2012). Strengthening management and leadership practices to increase health-service delivery in Kenya: an evidence-based approach. Human resources for health, 10(1), 25.

Morison, S., & McMullan, C. (2013). Preparing for the future: challenges and opportunities for management and leadership skills. British dental journal, 214(1), E2-E2.

Nayar, V. (2013). Three differences between managers and leaders. Harvard Business Review, 8, 2013.

Simonet, D. V., & Tett, R. P. (2013). Five perspectives on the leadership–management relationship: a competency-based evaluation and integration. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(2), 199-213.