LEADERS AND MANAGERS
Our Own Senior,Middle-Management
and Admin Team ( MY TEAM)
While discussing on leadership styles,the group members were given an opportunity to discuss and interpret their styles and evaluate on what kind of styles can be used appropriately and characteristics that can be avoided?
As the recent literature has been at pains to emphasize the differences between leaders and managers, the discussion was focused on the qualites of these two roles. This particular discussion was more interesting for me because, at a recent inspection that we had in our school, it was opined by the inspectors that the middle-management team were more of managers than leaders. I was able to understand and distinguish between these two roles after attending this session. I liked the description given by Bennis and Nanus (1985).
They describe leadership as doing right things whereas management is doing things right. It is said that leadership is having a vision, enthusiasm and energy to get people on one side and management is about making things happen. It is always impossible to be a good leader without being a good manager. This particular statement is contradicting to the one I heard from my inspectors. Ray took us through a discussion on the qualites of these two roles and gave us tasks relating to it .
When I reflect on to my role as a middle-leader, I feel that I do have all the qualites of a leader and a manager.
My observations on the task of differentiating between a leader and a manager are as follows:
Phrases befitting for a manager: Doing things right, control through procedures, deliver predictable performance, focus on efficency and cost, guide through principles, look for opportunities to improve.
Phrases for a leader: Doing right things, anticipate future needs, communicate high expectations, deal with today's challenges, focus on efficiency and value, live up to potential, set measurable objectives.
At the end of the class, I was able to identify the qualites of leaders and managers.
As the recent literature has been at pains to emphasize the differences between leaders and managers, the discussion was focused on the qualites of these two roles. This particular discussion was more interesting for me because, at a recent inspection that we had in our school, it was opined by the inspectors that the middle-management team were more of managers than leaders. I was able to understand and distinguish between these two roles after attending this session. I liked the description given by Bennis and Nanus (1985).
They describe leadership as doing right things whereas management is doing things right. It is said that leadership is having a vision, enthusiasm and energy to get people on one side and management is about making things happen. It is always impossible to be a good leader without being a good manager. This particular statement is contradicting to the one I heard from my inspectors. Ray took us through a discussion on the qualites of these two roles and gave us tasks relating to it .
When I reflect on to my role as a middle-leader, I feel that I do have all the qualites of a leader and a manager.
My observations on the task of differentiating between a leader and a manager are as follows:
Phrases befitting for a manager: Doing things right, control through procedures, deliver predictable performance, focus on efficency and cost, guide through principles, look for opportunities to improve.
Phrases for a leader: Doing right things, anticipate future needs, communicate high expectations, deal with today's challenges, focus on efficiency and value, live up to potential, set measurable objectives.
At the end of the class, I was able to identify the qualites of leaders and managers.