Personal style
Our textbook points out that managing and leading are not the same. However, the book never really makes a strong case for the difference. See if you can find a definition of leadership and compare that to the definition for management provided in the text on page 370.
In addition, on page 371, the book goes on to discuss some of the traits of good leaders. This is a very early approach to leadership research but it still has some good ideas we can use. Think of a leader with whom you have had direct or indirect experience and discuss which of these traits that person possessed. Are there other traits that are important?
There are lots of very good managers who are not particularly good leaders and there are lots of good leaders who are not particularly good managers. As you move forward in your career, especially in the future as it will likely unfold, you will need to be both a great manager and a great leader. We spend a lot of time working on our management skills but perhaps we need to also learn how to work on our leadership skills.
In addition to differentiating managing and leading, what can you use from our course content to enhance your leadership skills?
While these questions could be discussed without ever having read the book, please make sure you are referencing content from the book in order to earn the top points for your posts.
pg 371 traits of a good leader
1.intelligence, including judgment and verbal ability
2.past achievement in scholarship and athletics
3. emotional maturity and stability
4.dependability, persistence, and a drive for continuing achievement
5.the skill to participate socially and adapt to various groups
6.a desire for status and socioeconomic position
2. Again in describing this theory starting on page 372, the book does not make clear the difference between managing and leading. I would suggest that a manager thinks through the specific situation and selects the appropriate behavior along the continuum to deal with the current decision. A leader on the other hand thinks about the long term implications of the behavior. For example, are you trying to develop other decision makers’ skills? Can you use the current decision making opportunity to help others develop their commitment to the organizational goals and to enhance their own managerial skills? Managers want to make good decisions for the organization, leaders want others to learn to make good decisions for the organization.
Reflect back on a managerial decision you observed and describe which of the seven strategies were used to make the decision. Describe it to us and then discuss whether there was an opportunity to move from managing the decision to leading the decision. Sometimes you’ll see the circumstances are not ready for leading and need managing. Other times you’ll see that leaders might have used a different strategy.
pg 372 seven stragies
1.the manager makes the decision and announce it
2.the manager sells the decision
3.the manager presents ideas and invites questions
4.the manager present a tentative decision that is subject to change
5.the manager presents the problem, gets suggestions, and then makes the decision
6. the manager defines the limits and asks the group to make a decision
7. the manager permits the group to make decisions within prescribed limits
3. This theory basically says that leaders should set challenging goals, set out the general path to achieve the goals and provide appropriate rewards. One point the book seems to miss that is really important to this theory is the leader should also clear the path of obstacles so that the follower may be successful.
Many of my students think this describes how they would like their managers to treat them. Can you describe a situation where you have seen this in action specifically using any of the four leadership behaviors described in the theory?
1.directive behavior
2.supportive behavior
3.participate bahavior
4.achievement bahavior
4.Look at the definition of transformational leadership on page 384. This is absolutely one of my favorite leadership theories because it is so relevant in today’s world of uncertainly, economic challenge, and the rapid pace of change. However, let me warn you that it isn’t a very good theory to use in Project 2.
Transformational leadership requires the leader to create a vision of the future and to “sell” that vision to followers in such a way as everyone is committed to attaining the same future state. Additionally transformational leadership is focused on empowering individuals to be their best knowing their commitment to the shared vision.
According to another textbook written by Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behavior, published by Pearson, a transformational leader is one that “inspires followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization and they are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on their followers.”
In basic terms, transformational leaders change their organizations in some major way. Often times it is at the strategic level by moving into a new market or initiating a new product. It is also about empowering people by allowing them to share in the realization of a goal or vision. It covers lots of types of changes but it certainly and consistently is about changing the culture of an organization.
If you think of leadership as contingent on the situation and believe that it takes a good match between leadership style and the organization, you would think of managers as more likely to be successful in stable environments where products, customers, processes, and demand do not change radically, often, or without predictability. Transformational leaders would be more successful in organizations that face unstable environments, the need for new or improved products, where processes may need changing and where the future is unpredictable. In this situation, the leader really has the challenge to bring everyone in the organization along and each and every one of them has to be able to react to the changes they will face in their individual jobs.
GM used to have a rather stable environment. Now with gas prices, greening of manufacturing, credit crisis, falling world-wide demand for automobiles due to the recession, and higher levels of competition for the few consumers in the market for a new car, the environment has certainly changed.
Banks used to be in a rather stable environment. Branch managers were responsible to open new accounts and ensure customer satisfaction. Think of what they are going through now.
Even the local restaurant owner who may have had a strong following is facing a new challenge as customers cut back on what is perceived to be a luxury. At the same time, food prices, utilities, and other costs are going up. Add to that the food trends towards healthier eating and you’ll see that even local restaurateurs will need to be transformational leaders.
Try doing a web search on Transformational Leadership and see what you find. Share a summary of the important points with us.
Alternatively, identify someone you think of as a transformational leader and explain why. I know we all won’t agree on every one identified but we’ll have a good discussion.
Let me give you a hint by saying that I think Martin Luther King Jr was a wonderful example of a transformational leader.
pg 384 transformation leadership-
is a leadership that =inspires organizational success by profoundly affecting followers’s beliefs in what an organization should be, as well as their values, such as justice and integrity.
5.In Chapter 18 we have a lot of information about groups. Some of it is very theoretical and some more practical.
For this conference pretend you are a manager of an ad-hoc group that will be completing a project for your company. You provide the goal, expected outcomes, and the deadline and you select the participants. However, you do not actively participate in completing the project. Occasionally, the group meets with you to discuss their progress.
What can you learn from this chapter that will help you lead this group to success?
You’ll have to really think about this one!
ch. 18
-formal groups
-command group
-task group
-committee group
work teams
-informal group
interest group
-friendship group
–
………………………..Answer preview………………………….
Leadership is a personal style that guides a person or influences a person positively, according to the course context; management is the process of directing or administering. Both leadership and management have very definite meanings which hold the validity of their independence…………………………………
APA
840 words