Management and Leadership

Management and Leadership
      The difference between management and leadership has been reviewed and debated for many years. Although similar the two have very distinct purposes and several types of approaches. Managers may lack leadership qualities and some leaders may not be able to manage correctly.
      The Webster definition of management states:   the act or art of managing : the conducting or supervising of something (as a business) (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=management&x=11&y=17). This statement is very broad and lacks a real sense of what managers actually do. To accurately describe management I believe the scope would have to be narrowed down to a specific type of business. For example a manager of a logging company may have completely different duties and responsibilities from a manger of a sales department.
      In general terms the management is responsible for the decision making process from within the company. Managers are good decision makers capable of reviewing the information at hand and deciding which areas are priority. Another responsibility of the managers is to acquire the right resources for completing the task at hand. The distinction from manager to supervisor is one that can create some controversy among co-workers if not fully understood. A manager should not get directly involved with the work at hand but stay neutral and observe the actions that are taking place. Some co-workers may think that this is type of behavior is lazy or that the manager is not a team player but it is exactly what the manager should be doing. In fact, if the work load is so great that the manager has to get involved then the resources available may not be adequate. The ability and responsibility then relies on the manager to get the resources. Some companies encourage the managers to spend their time visiting and observing the business at hand without getting directly involved. "Early in the company's history the two... [continues]

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