leadershipandmanagement.doc

What is leadership, and what is the difference between leadership and management?In a nutshell, the difference between leadership and management is:Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new directionManagement controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established. The difference between leadership and management can be illustrated by considering what happens when you have one without the other.Leadership without management .sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is going to be achieved. Other people then have to work hard in the trail that is left behind, picking up the pieces and making it work. Eg: in Lord of the Rings, at the council of Elrond, Frodo Baggins rescues the council from conflict by taking responsibility for the quest of destroying the ring - but most of the management of the group comes from others.Management without leadership.controls resources to maintain the status quo or ensure things happen according to already-established plans. Eg: a referee manages a sports game, but does not usually provide leadership because there is no new change, no new direction - the referee is controlling resources to ensure that the laws of the game are followed and status quo is maintained.Leadership combined with management .does both - it both sets a new direction and manages the resources to achieve it. Eg: a newly elected president or prime minister.Some potential confusions.The absence of leadership/management is not to be confused with participatory or facilitative management, which can be a very effective form of leadership. Also, the absence of leadership should not be confused with the type of leadership that calls for no action to be taken. For example, Gandhis calls for protests to stop demonstrated great leadership, because taking no action was a new direction for the Indian people at that time. Symbolic LeadershipWhen a leader acts as a figure-head without setting any direction, technically this is not leadership. However, the figure head may be viewed as a leader. For example, in the UK, the monarch is often viewed as a leader, but actually provides very little leadership (most of the leadership in the UK comes from political figures). However, if a new group sets a direction of its own accord, it will often express that new direction in the form of a leader. For example, Nelson Mandela was regarded as a great leader even though he was in prison and unable to communicate with his followers! And he had been historically classified as a terrorist! Yet his symbolic power grew across the world. This was because he was a symbolic spearhead of the anti-apartheid movement. However, Nelson Mandela was more than just a symbolic leader. When he was released from prison, he showed great leadership in the statesmanship he showed, and in reaching out a hand of friendship to his oppressors. This landed a double-whammy blow against the apartheid regime, because: During the period when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned (when his ability to provide personal, direct leadership was limited) he continued to grow in power and influence as the symbolic leader for the anti-apartheid movement. Following his release from prison, he demonstrated actual leadership. Leadership and Management SummaryLeadership is about setting a new direction for a group; management is about directing and controlling according to established principles. However, someone can be a symbolic leader if they emerge as the spearhead of a direction the group sets for itself.第二篇The debate between leadership and management has been raging for a number of years. I feel that the distinction between management a leadership is useful one, in that it help us gain a better understanding of leadership and causes us to reflect on our own behaviour, asking ourselves, Are we really leading? So what are the differences between managers and leaders?There is a profound difference between management and leadership, and both are important. To manage means to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct. Leading is influencing, guiding in a direction, course, action, opinion. The distinction is crucial Warren BennisIf youve been reading this blog for a while, youll know I like the work of Warren Bennis, in his book On Becoming a Leader he describes his view of the differences between managers and leaders as follows:The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager is a copy; the leader is an original. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person. The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. This is a great list and it always causes me to pause a reflect on my own behaviour and ask Where am I spending most of my time? Doing the left hand tasks or doing the right hand tasks?Another influential thinker on the distinction between management and leadership is John Kotter author of John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do in the book John makes the following observations:“Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.” “Most U.S. corporations today are overmanaged and underled.” “Strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse.” “Management is about coping with complexity. Without good management, complex enterprises tend to become chaotic Good management brings a degree of order and consistency. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change. More change always demands more leadership.” “Companies manage complexity by planning and budgeting, by organizing and staffing, and by controlling and problem solving. By contrast, leading an organization to constructive change involves setting a direction (developing a vision of the future and strategies to achieve the vision), aligning people, and motivating and inspiring them to keep moving in the right direction. I like the point that John Kotter makes when he says that “Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.” The fact is that leadership and management are both important, they are two distinctive systems of action, both are necessary, each seek to do different things.On this topic, Jim Estill posted this great quote on his blog, CEO Blog Time Leadership citing a classic article from Harvard Business Review by Abraham Zaleznik in 1977 that addresses Leaders vs. Managers. From the Best of HBR: The difference between managers and leaders, he wrote, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in the psyches, of chaos and order. Managers embrace process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly sometimes before they fully understand a problems significance. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully in this way, Zalenznik argued, business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists and other creative thinkers than they do with managers. Organizations need both managers and leaders to succeed, but developing both requires a reduced focus on logic and strategic exercises in favour of an environment where creativity and imagination are permitted to flourish. In the end, we need to be good at leading first and managing second, the what and why . then. the how and the when! Reflecting on your behaviour over the past month, ask yourself:Where are you find yourself spending the majority of your time? Managing or leading? Given that most organisations are over managed and under led, What two management tasks can delegate this week? What two leadership behaviour do you need to focus on and improve this week? 第三篇Answer management is ahea