Leadership vs Management
Leadership vs. Management
By Jason Billings
Professor Ohaire Management 352 10 December 2012
What determines the success of an organization? There is not one simple answer to this question, but indeed several factors involved. Although, there are several factors that play a role in the success of an organization, I’ll focus on two of the most important ones: leadership and motivation. In the absence of either of the two entities the likelihood of an organization achieving its goals would decrease immensely. Likewise, another factor affecting an organization’s success is the role of both its leaders and managers respectively; their roles cannot be stressed enough in relation to the success of an organization. There are both differences and similarities in the role that each play in an organization’s infrastructure and I’ll explain these as well. While serving in the U.S Air Force, I worked for both managers and leaders, and learned much about the significance of them both. Now, let’s turn our attention to the subject of leadership and the tool often used by leaders called motivation. The role of leadership in an organization is one of upmost importance. It can be defined as the ability to influence people to willingly follow one’s guidance or adhere to one’s decisions. In order to be effective, leaders sometimes influence people through the use of motivation; informal organizational leaders use a combination of referent and expert power to motivate others. The term motivation refers to anything that activates human behavior, directs this behavior toward goal accomplishment, and also the ability to sustain this behavior. Simply noted, leaders know how to motivate people; great leaders utilize more than one single approach to motivation. In certain situations, leaders may or may not have any formal authority; this lack of formal authority is substituted by
By Jason Billings
Professor Ohaire Management 352 10 December 2012
What determines the success of an organization? There is not one simple answer to this question, but indeed several factors involved. Although, there are several factors that play a role in the success of an organization, I’ll focus on two of the most important ones: leadership and motivation. In the absence of either of the two entities the likelihood of an organization achieving its goals would decrease immensely. Likewise, another factor affecting an organization’s success is the role of both its leaders and managers respectively; their roles cannot be stressed enough in relation to the success of an organization. There are both differences and similarities in the role that each play in an organization’s infrastructure and I’ll explain these as well. While serving in the U.S Air Force, I worked for both managers and leaders, and learned much about the significance of them both. Now, let’s turn our attention to the subject of leadership and the tool often used by leaders called motivation. The role of leadership in an organization is one of upmost importance. It can be defined as the ability to influence people to willingly follow one’s guidance or adhere to one’s decisions. In order to be effective, leaders sometimes influence people through the use of motivation; informal organizational leaders use a combination of referent and expert power to motivate others. The term motivation refers to anything that activates human behavior, directs this behavior toward goal accomplishment, and also the ability to sustain this behavior. Simply noted, leaders know how to motivate people; great leaders utilize more than one single approach to motivation. In certain situations, leaders may or may not have any formal authority; this lack of formal authority is substituted by
References: Kinnes, T. (2004). The Didactic Pentangle and Triangle. Retrieved December 7, 2012 from http://oaks.nvg.org/eg6ra14.html Rue, Leslie W., and Llyod L. Byars.(2009). Management Skills and Application. (13th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. The American Heritage College Dictionary (2000). (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin