Preview

Who Is a Leader

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
628 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is a Leader
Who is a Leader?
It is common to see people use the term leader and manager interchangeably. This essay has three parts. The first part addresses the issue of a leader versus a manager, the second part deals with the characteristics of successful leaders, and finally essay ends with a conclusion.

Different scholars have defined leaders and leadership in their own way however they share several salient components in their definition. Leadership is not only being the first, biggest, or most powerful person in an organization (Benowitz, 2001, p.141). In this regard, Statt (1999, p.92) argued that a leader is someone who encourage others and be more concerned with maintaining harmony and cordiality within a group in order to achieve a desired result. He underscored that leaders attempt to combine all of the available energies to direct them to achieve a desired objective or task. A manager is anyone involved in the administration of an organization with the authority to use organizational resources, such as money, human or equipment, in order to realize the objectives of an organization. Thus, it can be said that a leader is someone who encourages and inspires individuals and teams to do their level best in order to achieve a desired goal while managers are engaged in administration routines. The bulk literatures in the leadership arena accentuated that managers job vary from organization to organization but they involve in activities like planning, organizing, leading and controlling the resources of an organization or a department (Benowitz, 2005; Susan, 2010). From this it is equally natural to say that a leader is different from a managers in a sense that a leader is involved in inspiring people and influence people to follow him or her in order to achieve a desired result while a manager is somebody who is responsible for directing and controlling the work and staff of an organization, or of a department within it. Bennis tried to look leaders from



References: * Statt, David, A. 1999, Concise Dictionary of Business Management, Routledge, London. * Mcpheat, Sean, 2010, Emotional Intelligence, Ventus publishing, UK. * Benowitz, Ellen, A, 2001, Principles of Management, Hungry Minds, Inc., New York * Susan, Q, 2010, Management Basics, Ventus publishing, UK * Morden, T, (2007), Principles of Strategic Management, Ashgate Publishing Limited, England.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The concept of ‘manager’ for example, in recent years became applied to all individuals who had a responsibility for organising activities, planning, with decision making concerning staff and so on (Bush, 2003). According to McCaffery (2004) management is unjustly, and incorrectly, portrayed as a straightforward, pointless and bureaucratic process, leadership by contrast is perpetually viewed as a complex and fine art. Dimmock and Walker (2005) assert that a leader is an individual who rules, directs or motivate others. A significant difference between the two, is that leaders do the right thing and managers do things right (McCaffery, 2004).…

    • 3726 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Assignment LDR300 Wk1

    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Leadership and Management are two terms that are often used interchangeably, or else used in very close relation with each other. But leadership is something that is difficult to define, because it is a word that can be defined in a number of different ways. Broadly speaking, however, leadership refers to the ability of an individual to influence a group of subordinate individuals to behave according to a certain manner, and the methods used to motivate those individuals to work together in order to attain a particular goal (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2000, p.4). Leaders, in other words, are innovators, they are men and women of vision, who take risks to inspire and to do the right thing. Management, meanwhile, is more concerned with organization, efficiency, oversight of employees - the more day-to-day activities involved in the running of an organization and in making sure that the organization and its employees are doing things right (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2000, p.8)…

    • 797 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Tag Heuer Biography

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It is a process or series of continuing and related activities. Leadership can be defined as an act by which a person is taken a decision or step in order to encourage inspires or motivate to others to work effectively or efficiently to complete and particular task. Leadership is also an ability to take an average team of individuals and then transforms them into a highly skilled workers or superstars. Leadership is an action that committed by a person or group to produce an output or good positive result. Leadership and management are working very closely with each other, they are totally different form one and other, but their working is really important in the success of an organization. If there is any effort occurs to separate them then it may cause many problems rather than to solves the queries. The job of leader is to inspire and motivate their co workers or their team. The main job of manager is to plan, organize, and coordinates. Leader is an original person and manger is a copy of others. The working of manager is to just maintain the work and the working of leader is to develop an effective strategies or plans. A manager mostly relies on control and the leader inspires the trust. Mostly manager focuses on systems and structure, and the leader…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are many questions posed regarding the difference between management and leadership. The major difference between leaders and managers is the way in which they motivate people. Most people share both attributes, possessing jobs as managers, yet thriving as leaders after coming to the realization that money and fear will not win the hearts and minds of individuals willing to follow them into the trenches. Managers have subordinates and a position of authority vested in them by the organization whereas leaders have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity. Leaders tend to give up a level of control to gain influence by appealing to an individual’s inner desires and passions. The feelings of passion are often infectious and transferred from leaders to those around them inspiring and…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    There has been some confusion among several individuals about the roles and responsibilities of a managers verses a leader. Managers and leaders have many common characteristics and traits, the responsibility and roles in an organization vary. The purpose of this email is to clarify the different roles and responsibilities in detail in a group. Examples will be provided to clarify any discrepancies about the difference between the two. Leadership is the method of influencing individuals toward achieving a goal in an organization. A manager controls the direction of the business to accomplish a goal through planning and making decisions based on company policy.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kot Task 1

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leadership is defined as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse, 2007). Managers, supervisors, and team leads are given the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives, however this power does not make a person a leader. This assigned authority only means that this person is “the boss.” Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve goals rather than bossing people around (Rowe, 2007). In other words, one can be assigned to a leadership position but one without such designated title can be a leader by influencing others to do great things.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robbins, S.P., Bergmann, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2011) Management. Sydney: Prentice Hall. 3rd edn.…

    • 5315 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership vs. Management

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Leadership is more of an art than a science. Whereas management is often thought of as a science in which a series of logical steps can be followed to implement whatever their job requires , leaders differ from managers in a variety of ways. Leaders are active in formulating goals and objectives for the employees.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ldr 531

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Leadership should be distinguished from management. Management involves planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling, and a manager is someone who performs these functions. A manager has formal authority by virtue of his or her position or office. Leadership, by contrast, primarily deals with influence. A manager may or may not be an effective leader. A leader 's ability to influence others may be based on a variety of factors other than his or her formal authority or position (Advameg Inc., 2010).…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Distinction between leadership and management has for long been an interesting subject matter for academicians and industrialists alike. There has been a definite shift of focus from management to leadership in the context of business organizations. This shift can be attributed to the need of organizations to sustain their growth in the face of rapidly changing competitive landscape across the industries. The differences in leadership and management have been widely acknowledged but the matter of debate is about the overlap between the two and how these important organizational elements help in driving the business both now and in the future.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership is defined as influencing people to achieve a purpose or set of goals, but differentiating it from management causes confusion in many instances (Tappen, Weiss and Whitehead, 2004; Senior and Fleming, 2006; Robbins, Judge and Sanghi, 2009). Leaders can be managers but not all managers can be effective leaders, making leadership an important aspect of effective management (Tappen, Weiss and Whitehead, 2004).…

    • 3034 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Dwight Eisenhower provided an excellent quotation on leadership; “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” A leader is one who goes first or possesses authority to direct such as in a chief or commander. However, a leader cannot be defined singularly, nor can all the factors that produce a leader be measured tangibly. A manager is defined as one who handles, controls, or directs, especially one who directs a business or other enterprise. By definition, a leader and manager are similar and a manager is a leadership role in an organization. Leaders can be managers, but managers are not necessarily leaders. Managers that have a good foundation as positive leaders hold key attributes, such as effective communicators, integrity, trustworthiness, respect and credibility.…

    • 2362 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe that a leader must be able to inspire motivation in subordinates, be self aware, and set the examples. I hope to exemplify these traits as an officer, and will work with you to learn, to create a cohesive unit, and to accomplish the mission.…

    • 824 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    References: Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. (8th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Although leadership and management styles are important, there is a significant difference between them. Leaders use influence and guidance to mentor actions, courses, and opinions. Whereas, managers have a responsibility and are in charge of others. Warren Bennis is a respected leader who is famous for two quotes; “failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led” (Bennis, 2007, p. 9) and “managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing” (Bennis, 2007, p. 9). A leader uses skills to promote innovation and long-term perspectives. They focus on development and investigate the what…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics