Leadership and Management - Report Example

Insert Title: Name: Institution: Module: Instructor: 28th July, 2009 Introduction There is a slight difference between management and leadership in the current world. Based on the contemporary perception leaders enhance changes within the organizations as well as its people. While for managers, they are administrators-for they initiate and plan for things like setting budget and monitoring the progress of the organizations. Although, different scholars have defined management and leadership differently but the most common distinction of the two is that, leadership is a process of putting into effect influence, and a means of initiating structure for goal achievement within an organization. It’s the process by which the executives directs guides and motivates; inspire the work of others in attaining specified goals (Smith & Piele 2006, p. 3). While on the hand, management is the act of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It’s the process of getting things done through the efforts of other people. Management functions Management function could comprise of work or activity that can be individually identified and described in the organization, such as problem solving, planning; process of selecting missions, goals and strategies to attain them-it involves determining in advance what should be accomplished and how it should be realized. Managers develop short, medium and long term plans to enhance growth and development in an organization. Controlling; process of actual performance against standards and taking any necessary control actions, this is necessary in ensuring that performance of activities compares favorably with plans set for them. Others management functions may include staffing, directing and organizing. It is not compulsory for one individual within a group or an organization to carry out all this tasks. Different people may carry out different parts of the management functions. A particular person may do the planning and another controlling. As others undertake the staffing, organizing and directing functions. Generally, the management team could share responsibilities so as to realize the organizational targets. On the hand, the managers may not be expected to produce good quality management depending on the circumstances surrounding the group. In a number of circumstances, teams have had the opportunities of determining for themselves the management duties they prefer to execute as a group, and set aside those that individual team members yearn to accomplish besides those they wish to allot to a manager. A manager therefore plans, organizes, staffs, directs and controls organization activities. Although many people erroneously think of managers in term of top level executives. These could be true sometimes, in case of small organization where they usually have two or one manager who may be responsible for diverse managerial duties. Large organization on the other hand employs professional who specialize in particular functions. Perceptions of Management Different scholars hold different perceptions on management. Dilbert in his scholarly writing argued that in an era where the youth happens to be acquainted with current knowledge than their elders, staffs at technical level could view managers as individuals who rarely value technology as well as making life hard for them through stipulations that create diminutive logic. Possibly, the technical teams could be fed up with Dilbert managers hence take over the managerial tasks. According to Dilbert, a manager is a leader who is supposed to give orders and directions which technical staff members are supposed to follow. In an ideal world a manager is a leader whom many people will wish to emulate. In this case, there should be a close link which reinforces a group and center its attention on significant work. Many people will tend to follow a leader maybe because of fear or as a result of mixed affirmative rationales like expectation of victory, confidence in the leader, enthusiasm in relation to a mission or a chance of stretching oneself towards the limit. Concerning this, Russell Ackoff visualizes a transformational leader as one who creates an aesthetic vision that inspires individuals a model of what is expected to be accomplished. Comparison of leadership and management Leadership and management are not totally different; however there is a slight difference among them (Field 2002). We can make a distinction between leadership and management by highlighting a difference that underlies their skills as shown below; Leadership skills Management skills Mostly concerned with vision Mostly concerned with execution of duties as compared to vision Leans toward driving of change as well as expecting changes Leans toward adjusting to change instead of intriguing initiative Concerned in the midst of dynamics of situation in changing a structure. Concerned with technique and adaption of structure. Entails empowering Entails being empowered Actions tends to display skill, although are character-based Actions have a tendency of being skill-based Further concerned with positive options Further concerned with negative outcomes Entailed with building and restructuring of the organization Entailed with satisfying the stipulated organization, adoption of behavior plus attitudes in accordance to management level Appreciate their strength and weaknesses, and much eager to learn from their mistakes and correct Have a tendency of avoiding risks for self-protection, for this reason growth is limited See association as chances for growth for achievement See relationships as a threat to respective positions and thus work mostly within the limits of an organization Create a system in support of goals and empowering others Concerned with segmenting areas of responsibility Richmon & Allison (2003) emphasizes that lack of management or leadership should not be baffled by participatory or facilitative management that could be incredibly successful type of leadership. Moreover, lack of leadership need not to be baffled with any form of leadership which sometimes may demand ‘‘no action’’ to be in use. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi called upon protest to impede confirmed good leadership, for the reason that admitting no action was the latest way for Indian citizens at that particular time. In most of the times leaders will increase trust of the people s/he is leading through endorsing transparency and participation, for instance being open on the subject of policy of compensation, business outcomes as well as market information. Professional employees expect their leader to have knowledge of predicting the future results of an organization and be considered in the decision making process of resolutions to be implemented. Figure 1.Relationship of leadership and management Majority of workers will always be happy when there views are listened to and even put into consideration. Even if they come to be thwarted by the decisions they took part in making will still increase there trust, particularly when the rationales are made clear. Companies will always call for good management and great leaders, as well as competent task and stimulating relations. Bureaucracies mostly practiced in organizations tend to be over controlled and under led ensuing fed up and unenthusiastic employees (Field 2002). There are diverse approaches of exercising the management tasks and individuals may be eager to pursue diverse leadership styles. Even though we have many instances of leadership and management practices, we have no one good way hence one observe successful practices and initiate it in there system by linking team members and coming up with own ways of stirring people to work. Characteristics of an effective leadership a) Self confidence b) Initiative and innovative c) Emotionally mature d) Ability to think positively e) Ability to plan, organize, control and direct f) Dynamic personality g) Effective communicator h) Intelligent i) Ability to make good judgment j) Ability to motivate and guide k) Social l) Good leadership actually needs to guarantee excellent management practice. Figure 2. Effective leadership Glover (2003) describes school leadership like a practice of manipulating prime toward the attainment of preferred purposes. Victorious leaders build up a vision designed for their schools founded on their individual as well as specialized values. The leaders tend to articulate there vision at any opening available and manipulate their staff along with other stakeholders to share the same vision. The viewpoint, compositions and activities of the school may be directed in the direction of the success of collective vision. (Bush and Glover, 2002: 8). Not the entire school leadership could be measured as superior or quality besides some being abound by anecdotal confirmation of poor leadership. In reality, a proper leadership style inside one state of affairs is not basic quality leadership inside another. The category of leader who appears to motivate some individuals is not basically the category of leader who may motivate another. Moreover, many scholars have written with reference to the appropriateness of contrary leadership advances to contrary situations. Leading and managing schools Majority of schools are led and managed by principals who have roles of educational skills, programs and learning results. On the other hand he or she takes care of students and staffs, as well as developing and managing physical and financial resources in school and community affiliations. For instance in New South Wales, government schools function within a diverse and cultural changing society with the high anticipation in the educational system and its end results of students (Bush & Glover 2002). Every school is component of a structure devoted in the direction of doctrine of inclusiveness, fairness, social impartiality and quality. A principal will take up key position within the school and will be responsible for leadership and management stability as per the State legislation, guidelines and precedence of the government. The role is multifaceted and need the principal towards being a leading learner in school environment, besides his or her role as a role model to the students, community and staffs. The presence of chain of command makes clarity on roles of school leadership. For example the principal is answerable on issues pertaining quality results of students to the Director-General of the school. The principal may also be responsible in the exercising his or her duties in the context of the neighborhood of the school and consideration of the overall resources available. The executive members of the school carry out special tasks determined by the school principal for development and appraisal of school policies and agendas. Every teacher is answerable to the principal in interpreting school programs into appropriate learning experiences in favor of learners. Educational leadership The principal of the school may be accountable for; 1) The education and wellbeing of students, subordinate staffs and teaching staffs 2) Provision of quality education to students of his or her school based on the policies of the government and Board of Studies. 3) Developing an educational culture that exhibits the way learning is treasured 4) Effective schooling practices right through the school 5) Enhancing a culture of cooperation, where all members are of the school community has a say in the attainment of common goals 6) Management of school resources successfully and professionally B] Leadership There has been a new interest in leadership around the world. Many organizations have changed their leadership style more frequently these days compared to the past. This has led to criticism regarding leadership in the place of work and in the scholarly writings in recent times. One of the major grounds for this has been the change, leaders have had a lot to execute with change and in view of the fact that Australia and the rest of the world are going through momentous change, matter of leadership have become more vital (Hargreaves & Fink 2006). Stiff competition, advancement in information technology, outsourcing, increased customer care services, stringent legislation taking place in market place, racial prejudice and varying interest rates are a number of issues leaders are supposed to deal with promptly and efficiently. Theories of leadership This is a set of properly argued ideas intended to explain facts or events regarding leadership. They are principles on which the subject of study on leadership is based. The there major theories of leadership include: a) Trait theory This is a traditional argument that assumes that leadership is based on personal qualities or traits. It assumes that leaders are not made but born and secret of good leadership lies somewhere in some qualities passed by society. b) Contingency theory It’s believed that effective leadership depends upon situation variable, which is the characteristics of a group and nature of the tasks. c) Path-goal theory This theory postulates that leaders influence their follower’s perceptions through their work goals, personal goals and paths to achievement of their goals. Hence it’s the leader’s behavior that should motivate the workers to achieve the goals. Leaders should be directive, participative, and supportive in addition to achievement oriented. Types of leadership a) Transformational leadership This is a leadership style where leaders inspire supporters to rise above their own self-interest for the goodness of an organization. These types of leaders are also charismatic and tend to pay interest toward the concerns and development issues of individual supporters and try to change their supporters’ views on past problems as opportunity to advance on and sometimes excite, arouse and inspire their supporters so as to achieve ambitions of the group (Hallinger 2007). In a school setting, transformational leaders (principals) are viewed to have major effect lying on the obligation and job contentment of teachers, and inspire students to aim higher in their academic attainment. Majority of the people will argue out that transformational leadership appears to be consistent through the notion of contingency theory. The relationship underlying the transformational and transactional leadership is argued based on two reasons. To start with, the magnification outcome of transformational leadership over transactional leadership means which calls for two advances for efficient and effective leaders based on the circumstances. The second one involves the nature of the features of transformational leadership, like charisma, inspiration and intellectual stimulation. Characteristics of transformational leaders i) Charisma They provide vision and sense of mission among hi or her followers. ii) Inspiration Communicates high prospect and tend to use signs to center attention on efforts in an uncomplicated ways. iii) Intellectual stimulation Promotes intelligence and reasonableness among his or her followers, as well as provision of cautious problem solving skills. iv) Individualized consideration Provides individual attention to everyone under his or her leadership and treats each employee individually. b) Transactional leadership This is a type of leadership where leaders guide or motivate their followers toward a clear direction of well established goals through an illustration of roles and tasks based on the requirement of the organization. Hargreaves & Fink, (2006) asserts that both transactional and transformational leadership should be seen not as opposing advances of getting things completed. It should be known that transformational leadership is built on transactional leadership, thus creating different levels of employee’s effort and performance which go beyond what transactional approach could have produced. Characteristics of transactional leadership i) Management by exception It watches for deviations from rules and regulations, and later comes to take corrective measures. ii) Contingent reward Tends to contract reward exchange for efforts of its employees and promises good rewards for best performance besides recognizing accomplishments. iii) Laissez-faire Relinquishes accountabilities and try to avoid decision making processes. c) Educational leadership Educational leadership is the kind of leadership that is prime role of school leaders, both teachers and principal. Although others factors like personal leadership and collaborative leadership in conjunction with administrative, cultural as well as managerial issues could have impact on school leaders but educational leadership is the key focus. Sometimes, changes in financial planning, the rising significance of school sponsorship and requirements for business skills in the midst of school leaders could assume meaning. Despite all this, educational leadership still commands a large share among school leaders. Time and again the situational leadership has been applied synonymously, particularly in the world of literature together with educational leadership. This can help in providing a difference founded on the principle that educational leadership is embraced and applied in larger situations. Bhindi & Duignan (1997, p.124) argues that educational leadership could be applied by school leaders by setting up formidable structures, communication networks, creation of confidence and conducive environment for learning and professional development. This kind of organizations are referred to as ‘‘learning organizations’’ (Senge 1991). Learning is the core value in schools, and decisions concerning learning are amongst the most vital within school leadership. Features of educational leadership i) Creates a friendly learning environment ii) Develop a passion for both learning and teaching iii) Use school data in analyzing and interpreting information regarding the educational matters iv) Evaluate school achievement v) Promotes quality in school’s teaching and learning processes. Conclusion It should be noted that leadership and management in schools are entwined and both subsist mutually. A good leader in school setting actually needs to make sure that there is good management practice for effectiveness in learning process (Bhindi & Duignan 1997, pp.117-119). The other activity of this leader may include mobilization and the empowerment of both the teachers and students to serve the academic and other educational related needs with the greatest skill and truthfulness. Leadership participate a key role in understanding group behavior, for it’s the leader who more often than not present the direction towards goal achievement. Therefore, a more effective school leadership creates a valuable ability in improving students’ performance in their studies. The study of both leadership and management has expanded the school principal abilities to lead and manage the schools more effective given that they are taught how to be responsible and good leaders (Smith & Piele 2006). This has contributed to growth and development of new schools in Australia and attainment of institutional goals as student excel in their academic pursuits. References Bhindi, N & Duignan, P 1997. Leadership for a new century: Educational Management & Administration, vol. 25, no. 21, pp. 117-133. Bush, T & Glover, D 2002. School Leadership: Concepts and Evidence A report to the National College for School Leadership, Nottingham. Covey, S 2004. The 8th HABIT: From Effectiveness to Greatness. London: Simon and Schuster, pp. 352-359. Davie, B 2005. The Essentials of School Leadership. London: Paul Chapman Publishing and Corwin press. Field, R 2002. Leadership Defined; Web Images Reveal the Differences between Leadership and Management (Submitted to the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada 2002 annual meeting in Winniepeg, Manitoba) http://www.business.ualberta.ca/rfield/papers/leadershipDefined.htm Gurr, D, Drysdale, L & Mulford, W 2007. Instructional Leadership in Three Australian Schools, (Paper presented at ACEL 2007 International Conference). http://apollo.instanthosting.com.au/~ace14897/conf07/papers.php Hallinger, P 2007. Research on the practice of instructional and transformational Leadership: Retrospect and prospect, Paper prepared for ACER Research Conference 2007. Hargreaves, A & Fink, D 2006. Sustainable Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Maccoby, M 2000, 'Understanding the Difference between Leadership and Management', Research Technology Management, Vol. 43, No. 1. January- February 2000. MacNeill, N, Cavanagh, R & Silcox, S 2003. Beyond Instructional Leadership: Towards Pedagogic Leadership, Paper submitted for presentation at the 2003 Annual Conference for the Australian Association for Research in Education, Auckland. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2000, Leading and Managing the School, Internal Document Richmon, M. & Allison, D 2003. Towards a Conceptual framework for Leadership Inquiry, in Smith and Piele Robinson, V 2007. School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works And Why, ACEL Monograph No. 41, October 2007 Senge, P 1990. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday Sergiovanni, T 1984. 'Leadership and excellence in schooling', Educational Leadership, February 1984, pp.5-18. Smith, S & Piele, P 2006. School Leadership: Handbook for Excellence in Student Learning, 4th Edn. California: Corwin Press. Waters, T, Marzano, R & McNulty, B 2003. Balanced Leadership: What 30 years of Research tells us about the effect of leadership on student achievement, working Paper, McRel. Read More