Essay on Leadership and Management

The terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably. While some writers argue that there is a clear distinction between leadership and management, others argue that leadership is simply a function of management. Which view do you feel is the most relevant in the context of your industry and why?

According to Ricketts (2009) in today’s world effective leadership and management is essential in order to archive success. Terms of leadership and management are being seen as synonyms and often used interchangeably. Some writers such as Zeleznik, Kotter think that there is no close relationship between leadership and management, while others persuade us that leadership is simply one of the characteristic of the manager. This …show more content…
Zeleznik believes (1989, as cited by McCrimmon 2006) that managers and leaders differ in terms of their personality, he describes managers as cold machines who “adopt passive attitude toward goals”, according to him they maintain low emotional involvement and tend to be detached and manipulative. He sees leaders as creative and demanding changes. For Zeleznik they are more interested in ideas than how they work. He says that leaders are more empathetic than managers. McCrimmon (2006) summarise Zeleznik with assumption that both leaders and managers have some goal, aim and that is only the approach, personality that differentiate them. Leaders are very good at motivating people, taking them to next level. They take great care of their subordinates ensuring high level of confidence. Zeleznik’s ideas are now out-dated, in today world manager has to possess good leadership skills. No longer is it possible to describe manager as cold, task orientated, now they are more involved in their staff, taking care of them. On the other hand managers are good at planning, maintain stability, solving problems. Watson (1983, as cited in Mullins 2007) suggest that manager rely mostly on strategy, structure and system, leaders have an inherent tendency to soft Ss style, staff, super ordinate goals. According Mullins (2007) leadership does not have to be official in structure of organisation, further he says that many people work as leaders although

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Leadership and Management Essay

Management and Leadership Essays

Essay on Management and Leadership