Leadership Vs. Management in Civil Engineering
CL317 Construction Management
Coursework Part 1
Leadership vs. Management: What does the 21st Century hold?
Lydia Stevenson
Introduction
When we think of Leaders in the construction industry, we think of past engineers such as Brunel and Telford. Yet ask someone if they could name a current leader in the construction industry and they would most likely draw a blank. It is more common these days to come across construction mangers rather than construction leaders. Why is this? In the past, the roles of leaders and managers were more clear-cut. However, nowadays companies are struggling to keep up with a changing and dynamic business environment, with sophisticated technology and a flatter organizational structure. This means that the roles of managers and leaders must be adapted. In this essay I am going to look at the differences between managers and leaders, the roles of construction managers and construction leaders in the past and present, the reason why there are fewer leaders in the construction industry these days, and whether we actually need them.
Discussion
Manager or Leader?
“The main difference between managers and leaders is that some managers cannot sleep because they have not met their objectives, while some leaders cannot sleep because their various objectives appear to be in conflict and they cannot reconcile them.” (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2002)
Conventionally, managers are told what to do, while leaders decide what to do. Goldhaber, Chandra, and Manuel (1997) state that Leaders are the ones that drive new initiatives, inspire and motivate people, and have a vision of the future, while managers create plans and budgets, design the organizational structure, and create order. Burton and Michael (1992) state that leaders have followers, managers have sub-ordinates.
These comparisons are applicable to all types of organizations, including the construction industry. It is clear from these comparisons that
Coursework Part 1
Leadership vs. Management: What does the 21st Century hold?
Lydia Stevenson
Introduction
When we think of Leaders in the construction industry, we think of past engineers such as Brunel and Telford. Yet ask someone if they could name a current leader in the construction industry and they would most likely draw a blank. It is more common these days to come across construction mangers rather than construction leaders. Why is this? In the past, the roles of leaders and managers were more clear-cut. However, nowadays companies are struggling to keep up with a changing and dynamic business environment, with sophisticated technology and a flatter organizational structure. This means that the roles of managers and leaders must be adapted. In this essay I am going to look at the differences between managers and leaders, the roles of construction managers and construction leaders in the past and present, the reason why there are fewer leaders in the construction industry these days, and whether we actually need them.
Discussion
Manager or Leader?
“The main difference between managers and leaders is that some managers cannot sleep because they have not met their objectives, while some leaders cannot sleep because their various objectives appear to be in conflict and they cannot reconcile them.” (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2002)
Conventionally, managers are told what to do, while leaders decide what to do. Goldhaber, Chandra, and Manuel (1997) state that Leaders are the ones that drive new initiatives, inspire and motivate people, and have a vision of the future, while managers create plans and budgets, design the organizational structure, and create order. Burton and Michael (1992) state that leaders have followers, managers have sub-ordinates.
These comparisons are applicable to all types of organizations, including the construction industry. It is clear from these comparisons that
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