Essay Sample on Distinction between Leadership and Management

A successful business owner is known to possess great leadership and management skills. There exist essential distinctions between leading and managing people. Leadership is an interaction between two or more people in a group often involving structuring and restructuring of a particular situation, and expectations and perceptions of the members (Bass 2008). Leadership is perceived as an equilateral triangle whereby the three sides include the followers, the leader, and the context (Volckmann, 2012). Management, on the other side, is the art of getting things to be done through others and with formally organized groups(Lisa, 2000).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Management is the art of being aware of what onewants to do, and afterward seeing that people do it in the cheapest and best manner(Lisa, 2000). Leadershipis therefore about getting people to believe and understand one's vision and working with them to achieve their goals, while management is administering tasks and ensuring activities are happening as they should, to accomplish organizational goals.Regarding behavior, leadership roles are demonstrated and performed by change agents. They bring change to the organization, and innovation is always on the frontline of their operations, thinking in the long term. Management individual roles,on the other hand, are demonstrated bya maintaining a status quo which means sticking to what works, refining of systems, processes and structures to better them; thinking on short-term goal basis.

Leadership is characterized by the creation of a vision, as leaders form part of the inspiration and engage people to actualize the vision (Bass 2008). Management, on the other hand, focuses on the measuring, setting,and achievement of goals;controlling of situations to exceed or reach objectives is evident in management(Lisa, 2000).A leader coaches people as they deem them optimistic and competent about their capability, whereas managers provide guidance on ways of accomplishing tasks and delegate. With leaders, they are always ready to engage and try new things, even though they may fail. Managers, on the other hand, ensure that minimum risks are undertaken, which is always meant to control and prevent problems which get embraced in leadership. Leadership entails the building of relationships by spending time with their stakeholders, whereas managers focus on building processes and systems(Volckmann, 2012). Leadership, therefore, outweighs the success of management, since it becomes more convenient to work in an environment full of unity and vision.

References

Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, & managerial applications (4th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.

Lisa Wood. (2000). "Brands and brand equity: definition and management," Management Decision, 38 (9), 662-669.

Volckmann, R. (2012). "French Perspective: Barbara Kellerman and the Leadership Industry". Articles from Integral Leadership Review. 2012-06-08.