Management and Leadership

According to most managers are principally administrators they write business plans, set budgets and monitor progress. Leaders get organizations and people to change. When looking at the distinction between management and leadership, management is a function that must be exercised in any business and leadership is a relationship between a leader and others that can energize an organization.

An exceptional manager comes to know and value the particular quirks and abilities of his or her employees. They figure out how to capitalize on their employee strengths and tweak their environment to meet the larger goals. This approach may seem like a lot of work but capitalizing on each person's uniqueness can save time. Rather than encourage employees to conform to strict job descriptions that may include tasks they don't enjoy and aren't good at, a manager who develops a position for their employees based on their unique abilities will be rewarded with behaviors that are far more efficient and effective than they would be otherwise. The focus on individuals also makes employees more accountable. Most employees are evaluated on their particular strengths and weaknesses; they are challenged to take responsibility for their abilities and to hone them. Capitalizing on person uniqueness also builds a stronger sense of team. When taking the time to understand what makes each employee tick, shows that he or she sees their people for who they are. When you personally invest in a person it motivates the individuals but also galvanizes the entire team, this approach shakes up existing hierarchies, which leads to more creative thinking. As a manager you must know your people strengths and what buttons to push to activate those strengths but most importantly you must know how they learn. By asking questions and pushing the right buttons you become aware of their learning styles and then you will discover what motivates each person to excel.

When looking at some management functions they can include problem solving and facilitating meetings as well as the traditional tasks. When it comes to managing it is not necessary for the same person in a group to exercise all these tasks. Different people can take on parts of the management function. Someone on a team can do the planning. Another person can do the budgeting. A third team member can monitor quality. Members of a team can take turns facilitating meetings. The team as a whole can share responsibility for meeting performance targets. At Sears some teams decide who does what work, they schedule training, vacations, overtime and they deal with teammates' issues of productivity or lack of work ethic but this is seldom a problem. Although there are no incentives other than promotion on the basis of skills some employees are motivated by the work itself, the drive for perfection and pride in supplying a quality product to the customer.

When looking at two kinds of leaders, strategic and operational. The first priority of a strategic leader is to imagine the company's future and to invest the resources necessary to create it. Operational leaders have the job of implementing the vision. Even though both have different styles there function are basically them same, both still have to select talent, motivate, coach and build trust in their people. A great leader picks talent on the basis of excellence and ability to work with others. Good leaders are not afraid to hire people who know more than they do. (Addison-Wesley, 1997)

A leader should design responsibilities that engage a person's competence and values. Responsibilities are motivating when they stretch people and are meaningful to them. People follow a leader either out of fear or for a mix of positive reasons such as hope of success, trust in the leader, excitement about