Reference no: EM131133459

Read the mini-case, Leadership and Management *BELOW* answer the questions at the end:

"Leadership and Management are two distinct but complementary systems. While managers promote stability, leaders press for change. Only organizations that can embrace both sides of that contradiction can thrive in turbulent times" (Kotter, 1995)

1. Describe a position that you believe calls for leadership. Describe a position that you believe calls for management.

2. Make a list of what you believe are leadership task and another list of what are management tasks.

3. Evaluate the two lists. Do you find it difficult to clearly separate the lists or do some tasks seem to fit on both lists? Explain.

*TEXT BELOW*

Leadership and Management

In trying to answer “What is leadership?” it is natural to look at the relationship between leadership and management. To many, the word management suggests words like efficiency, planning, paperwork, procedures, regulations, control, and consistency. Leadership is often more associated with words like risk taking, dynamic, creativity, change, and vision. Some say leadership is fundamentally a value-choosing, and thus a value-laden, activity, whereas management is not. Leaders are thought to do the right things, whereas managers are thought to do things right. Here are some other distinctions between managers and leaders:

• Managers administer; leaders innovate.

• Managers maintain; leaders develop.

• Managers control; leaders inspire.

• Managers have a short-term view; leaders, a long-term view.

• Managers ask how and when; leaders ask what and why.

• Managers imitate; leaders originate.

• Managers accept the status quo; leaders challenge it.

Zaleznik goes so far as to say these differences reflect fundamentally different personality types: leaders and managers are basically different kinds of people. He says some people are managers by nature; other people are leaders by nature. One is not better than the other; they are just different. Their differences, in fact, can be useful because organizations typically need both functions performed well. For example, consider again the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave life and direction to the civil rights movement in America. He gave dignity and hope of freer participation in national life to people who before had little reason to expect it. He inspired the world with his vision and eloquence, and he changed the way we live together. America is a different nation today because of him. Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a leader? Of course. Was he a manager? Somehow that does not seem to fit, and the civil rights movement might have failed if it had not been for the managerial talents of his supporting staff. Leadership and management complement each other, and both are vital to organizational success.