Management_and_Leadership

Management and Leadership Paper Earnest Johnson University of Phoenix Management Theory, Practice, and Application MGT330 Terry Kennard Management and Leadership Paper In the corporate world, many business models depict leadership and management as synonymous with one another. In reality management and leadership have very different meanings: management is a position and a manager is a title, whereas leadership is a skill and leader is a function. With the new economy based on flexibility of manpower and human resources competition in which people switch jobs if they are not satisfied. The ‘new manager’ who is managing workers must have the skills of a leader otherwise his or her team will deteriorate (“What is the Difference between Management and Leadership“, 2009). A leader presents original thinking, a vision or a new path that attracts or motivates others to go after him or her without hesitations. Put another way, leaders must know what they want. And other people must understand what that is. The leader must be able to articulate the vision, clearly and often (Bateman & Snell, 2009, p. 437). Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric Company, has shown tremendous leadership in GE since he took over in September 2001. Mr. Immelt has been named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Baron’s, and since he began serving as CEO, GE has been named “America’s Most Admired Company” in a poll conducted by Fortune magazine. Mr. Immelt stated in a press release that “We have always believed that building strong leaders is a strategic imperative. When times are easy, leadership can be taken for granted. When the world is turbulent, you appreciate great people.” 90% of GE’s top 600 leaders are promoted from within because of their remarkable executive leadership training under Mr. Immelt’s direction (General Electric Company, 2010). Managers being a management position obtain his or her power and authority from that position. Effective managers are not necessarily true leaders. Many managers perform their responsibilities successfully without being great leaders. Although the management position affords the opportunities for leadership, the ability to lead effectively, will set the excellent managers apart from the average ones (Bateman & Snell, 2009). Managers must deal with the day- to- day complexities of the organization, the planning and budgeting routines, and structuring the organization. Whereas leaders effectively orchestrate important change, create vision and keep people focused on moving toward the future regardless of what obstacles lay in the way (Bateman & Snell, 2009). The actual difference between a manager and a leader can be seen during an emergency. During the emergency, the manager is bound to take the tried and tested way to solve the crisis, whereas a leader tries to devise a solution, thereby taking his or her problem solving capabilities to the next level. “GE has embraced the globalization mindset for the 21st century. General Electric is emerging stronger from the recession,” says Jeff Immelt. GE is investing in green technology- and sees a future in markets such as India and China. Currently 60% of GE’s sales are overseas. With GE bridging markets in China and India that percentage could sky rocket. GE has a strong set of globalized businesses in infrastructure and finance aligned to meet today’s needs, including the demand for global infrastructure; growing and changing demographics that need access to health care, finance, and environmental technologies. GE provides the products and services that help developing regions participate in the global economy while also helping developed regions upgrade with cleaner, more efficient, and better infrastructure technologies (General Electric Company, 2010). GE Global Research is the hub of technology development for all of GE’s businesses, with 10 global laboratories organized by scientific disciplines all focused on leveraging technology breakthroughs across multiple GE businesses. Each lab crosses geographic borders where people from the United States, Europe, China, and India collaborate on each success. Beyond the strong partnerships that scientists have with GE’s business divisions, GE continues to look for the best partnerships with its customers, industry leaders, government (both foreign and domestic), and academia to enhance the company’s technology capabilities (General Electric Company, 2010). Effective leadership must be spread out through an organization, not only in the top one or two positions. “The leader’s job therefore becomes one of spreading leadership abilities throughout the firm.” (Bateman & Snell, 2009, p. 457) GE is famous for developing the leadership skills of employees with potential so that the organization will have strong leaders at many levels (Bateman & Snell, 2009). One of the most effective strategies that managers and leaders can employ is termed servant-leader. The term was coined by Robert Greenleaf, a retired AT&T executive. Essentially the servant-leader’s relationship with employees is more like that of serving customers. Servant-leadership may be easier for people focused on what their product or organization can do for society than for people who take leadership jobs to be in control (Bateman & Snell, 2009, p. 457). For the individual who wants to both lead and serve others, servant-leadership is a way of relating to others to serve their needs and enhance their personal growth while strengthening the organization. Although Mr. Greenleaf developed the servant-leader management strategy in 1977, the concept came from a novel written by Herman Hesse, entitled Journey to the East. But Mr. Hesse was also not the first person to conceptualize the servant-leader. It was the founder of Christianity, Jesus, who first taught and modeled the concept, and it has been echoed down through the centuries right up to present day (Van Dyke, 2009). In 2009, Walter A. McNeil took the head leadership position as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections. When he took control of our department, he introduced us to the servant-leader philosophy. In less than a year the staff turnover rate dropped by 4% and staff morale has increased. This leadership style was more receptive with staff that had been with the department for fewer than three years. Veteran staff has been reluctant to accept this new style because they view it as a foreign concept that will never be totally implemented. Past Secretaries have made bold claims of change and never followed through with any of them. So the veterans believe that this too will pass and we will get back to business as usual. Servant-leaders regard their followers not as subjects or burdens, but as people who have been entrusted to them to be elevated to improve themselves and to become all that they are capable of becoming. They recognize the inherent value and worth in individuals and are willing to sacrifice something of themselves to help others realize their full potential. Servant-Leaders are never self-promoting but are tireless promoters of others (Van Dyke, 2009). Transformational leadership is another difficult but effective strategy for managers and leaders to use. Transformational leaders get people to transcend their personal interests for the sake of the larger community (Bateman & Snell, 2009, p. 455). Transformational leaders create excitement and possess three common characteristics. First, they are charismatic. Second, they give their followers individualized attention. Transformational leaders delegate work to deserving people, keep lines of communications open, and provide one-on-one mentoring to develop people. Third, transformational leaders are intellectually stimulating (Bateman & Snell, 2009). To be considered transformational, a leader must have a vision that grabs people’s attention. They must also be able to communicate their vision of the ultimate goal. Transformational leaders build trust by being consistent, dependable, and persistent. Finally, they have a positive self-regard. They strive for success rather than merely try to avoid failure (Bateman & Snell, 2009). To become a great transformational leader, one must build on four core strengths. First, self-mastery, often the greatest barrier to success is not in others or the environment, it is our self. Second, the transformational mind-set, action is supported by a set of beliefs. Third, influence, managers rely on authority, leaders rely on influence. Fourth, skill development, very few people know how to build a skill, so they waste countless hours in futile effort. A person cannot build a skill by only reading about it (Johannsen, n.d.). For a leader to develop the skills necessary to lead, he or she must make mistakes and learn from them. One of the best examples transformational leaders of modern time is Adolph Hitler. Hitler was an extremely effective, charismatic leader who turned a weak democratic state into a strong totalitarian one. He remained an amazingly popular leader who retained power until the very end. Few Germans questioned his decisions, goals, methods and the vision of a thousand year Reich. However, that vision brought ruin to Germany and much of Europe. Most theories of leadership development stress how to be effective within the status quo- what is called transactional leadership. Whereas this leadership style can be very influential, they change very little for the good or bad. Unfortunately, many organizations have very few transformational leaders; the vast majority of the leaders inside organizations today are transactional. Thus we see organizations decline as there is an increasing disconnect between “the way things should be done” and “the way things are done here.” (Johannsen, n.d.) The most effective leadership styles put the employees and the organization before one’s self. Corporate organizations are starting to acknowledge the need for better trained leaders. No longer will management be able to run an effective organization by saying “do it because I said so” or “do as I say not as I do.” Leaders in today’s corporate climate have to be better informed and have greater vision than ever before. As a society we are being desensitized to outside stimuli, and therefore people need someone with extraordinary leadership skills to step up to impress and excite with new and innovative ideas. GE has made tremendous bounds with their executive leadership training. GE’s executive leaders are also known as “growth leaders,” the executive leaders are at the forefront, where they foster and environment that encourages employee integrity and professional development. GE’s 191 most senior executives have spent at least 12 months in training and professional development programs during their first 15 years with GE. References Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2009). Management Leading and collaborating in a competitive world (8th ed.). University of Virginia: McGraw-Hill. General Electric Company. (2010). Work and life balance. Retrieved from http://ge.com/company/factsheet/grc.html Johannsen, M. (n.d.). A Short Primer to Transformational Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.legacee.com/info/leadership/leadershipresourcestop.html Van Dyke, D. A. (2009). Servant Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.hohchurch.org/pdf/2009/servant%20leadership.pdf What is the Difference between Management and Leadership. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.job-interview-site.com