Management and Leadership

Management and Leadership

What is leadership? Leadership is having the ability to give guidance to those that will follow. Those that follow will help to complete the mission. Leadership is a soft science, just as anthropology, sociology and psychology. It cannot be proven exactly what it is. Leadership is an art, the skillful application of leadership behaviors beyond techniques is much the same as the skillful application of brushstrokes by a master painter. Leadership is both rational and emotional. It involves both sides of human experience. It includes actions and influences based on reason and logic as well those based on inspiration and passion. Leadership is a social process shared among all members of a group. Leadership development comes through experience. We all learn from our different experiences. Whether positive or negative, they are our tools for growth and development.

What is management? Management is a position of authority. Management says what need to get done and supplies the material to get it done. Management tends to be the more educated than the experienced. Managers can be trained to hold a position. Management is a position of leadership. Can leadership and management be the same? Leadership and management are not the same. Anyone can be a manager and not have any followers. Being able to manage is knowing the aspects of a mission. A leader knows the aspects, has the knowledge and the skills to accomplish the mission. But leadership and management work hand in hand with each other. The management sets the stage and the leadership makes it happen. Leadership is a human relationship process. No scientific method can be used for testing leadership. Leadership is based on human factors and no two humans are the same.

Managers are not only interested in status quo, but also production, expansion and growth. Management was a system to control machines. Leadership can never be controlled. Where one sits in life determines what you see. To be a good manager one must look at views from different perspectives. As situations change, leadership relations change. Leadership cannot be transactional. It can only work if both parties keep their agreements. A class survey was held to compare leaders to managers. The overall opinion was that they are similar in many ways. A leader and a manager can be one in the same. The difference be...

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...ent opinions. Many studies have been done and know one still knows what makes a true leader. We are far from finding conclusive answers to them. Even those individuals with extensive knowledge of leadership research may be poor leaders. Leadership does not occur without followers, and followership is an easily neglected component of the leadership process. Leadership is everyone business and everyone responsibility. Thinking about leadership can help a person become a better leader than you are right now. In conclusion, my opinion is as follows. The leadership process is a total learning process. We all are leaders in our own way at different times in our lives. For example a father or mother with children, their children look to them for guidance. They also learn their values and about their culture through them. That is having leadership abilities. Friends look to each other for advice and different experiences that each of them have done. Some people perform leadership acts on the daily basis and don´t even realize it until they think about it or until someone brings it to their attention. That´s why it´s said that a part of learning about leadership is to always think about it.