CAN LEADERS MANAGE AND MANAGERS LEAD?
Many people frequently use the terms “leader” and “manager” interchangeably, but these roles involve two different sets of skills. According to Steven Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Leaders and managers are two different things. Leadership is not management. Leadership has to come first. Management is a bottom-line focus: How can I best accomplish certain things? Leadership deals with the top line: What are the things I want to accomplish?” (2017, p. 107).
The roles of leader and manager are both fundamentally important to an organization. Managers are required to keep things running smoothly and leaders are needed to provide direction and motivation and to produce change. A person can be both a good manager and a good leader, but this is not always the case. For this Discussion, you will examine the leadership skills and management skills of the leaders with whom you have worked.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Reflect on your professional experience with leaders with whom you have interacted as a follower, colleague, or supervisor. Consider the strengths and weaknesses these professionals had with regard to leadership and management skills. How well did they perform their roles as managers and as leaders?
Then, drawing from your professional experience, identify a leader with whom you have interacted as a follower, colleague, or supervisor that matches only one of the following descriptions:
They are a good leader lacking effective managing skills.
They are a good manager lacking effective leadership skills.
They are an effective leader and manager.
They are neither a good leader nor manager.
Post an analysis of leadership versus management in business, being sure to address the following:
Without giving the actual name of the leader you have selected, identify their strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a manager. Then distinguish the individual’s leadership skills from their management skills.
Analyze the effect the leader had on the business environment where you worked at the time. Was there a need for both management and leadership from this individual? Explain why or why not.
Identify two lessons learned from working with this leader that you could apply to your own professional practice as a leader and/or manager.
Refer to the Week 1 Discussion 2 Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this grading rubric to assess your work.
Sample Solution
Leadership and management are often considered to have overlapping functions. While this can be true, these two terms have different meanings and shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Both imply a unique set of functions, characteristics, and skills that share similarities. However, they show prominent differences in some circumstances. For example, some managers do not practice leadership, while others lead without a managerial role. While a managerial culture emphasizes rationality and control, leaders are more about looking for opportunities for improvement on the organizational level. They do so by coming up with new ideas and driving the shift to a forward-thinking mindset.
