Management and leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management and leadership - Essay Example It is a well-known and understood fact that it takes the display of very fine management skills in order to be a good leader. Generally, good leaders are first good managers. Body One of the most fundamental differences between managers and leaders is their way of motivating the subordinates or followers. While the managers usually are risk averse in their approaches, leaders tend to take risks. Some traits that differentiate a manager from a leader are; managers prefer routine over change whereas leaders prefer the other way round; the vision of managers is short-term generally whereas leaders tend to have a long-term vision, leaders visualize things in a broad perspective whereas managers work upon details to make the plans of the leader practicable; finally, as the terms suggest, managers tend to manage whereas the work of a leader is to leader, though it takes sound management skills to be able to lead. The foundation on which leadership stands is the commitment and obedience of the followers. A leader cannot do without the help, support, and compliance of the followers. It takes management to get the followers in the position where they are ready to accept the leader as an individual with power and authority over them. Leadership without management is like trying to lead a herd of wild buffaloes. No matter how hard a leader tries, the wild buffaloes would get scattered and the man would not be able to lead them to their destination. Management essentially tames the workforce so that they get in the mood to listen to the leader and give him/her the due respect he/she deserves for being in the position of a leader. Management is about inculcating the sense of work ethics, respect for the principles of work, and a willingness to abide by them in the workplace in the workforce. These factors prepare a worker mentally and psychologically to be submissive to the leader for the matters related to work. In turn, the level of obedience of the subordinates is raised and this has a very healthy effect on the relationship between the leader and the subordinates. When managed rightly, workers know that they have to listen to the leader to be able to work toward attaining the goal as a group while keeping their personal egos aside. In this way, management essentially set the stage for a leader to perform on. Without that stage, the leader might be called as a leader but he/she might not be truly recognized as a leader, and without the recognition of a leader as such, leadership cannot be thought to be effective. The duties and responsibilities of a manager and a leader are to a large extent similar. While not every manager is a leader, every leader has to be a manager also. Although the individual with the utmost powers and the decision making authority in an organization is usually one or a small group of people who are recognized as leaders, yet down the line, every manager is a leader for the people working under him/her. For example, letâ€⠄¢s take the example of the manager of kitchen in an organization. While the manager of kitchen has to follow the menu set by the leader and use only the ingredients made available to him/her by the leader, the manager of kitchen necessarily serves as a leader for the cooks, the chefs, the purchasers, the kitchen cleaners, and other workers working in the kitchen. Management in this example means providing the workers with the resources and help they require to achieve the tasks assigned to them individually and collectively, supervising them so as to make sure they are actually working and not wasting time in gossip and other activities, making sure that the kitchen is cleaned regularly and that