Economic Final Project

Management and Leadership

It takes strong management and leadership skills to guide an organization to success. Management and leadership are two different concepts. “Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals,” (Bateman & Snell, 2004). Leading is the management function that involves the manager’s efforts to stimulate high performance by employees (Bateman & Snell, 2004). I believe that management is a job description and leadership is a trait. Management is creative problem solving. This creative problem solving is accomplished through the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

These functions help plan, organize, lead and control the resources that an organization has. When a management team uses the planning functions they are laying down the goals and the direction that they need to take to achieve those goals. It is during the planning function, that rules and procedures are implemented for the workforce to adhere too. To properly manage, a management team will need to organize the human, financial, physical, informational, and technical resources that are necessary to work towards their goals. Next a management team will need to lead and control the workforce towards the goals that were set for them. It is through these functions that management teams can direct a workforce using the rules, regulations and procedures. The nature and work of management involves effectively applying these four functions to achieve organizational success.

It takes a good understanding of these four functions to be successful in management. Managers usually achieve their position through experience and understanding. A manager usually obtains authority through time and loyalty. A manager is to know how the organization works and should possess good technical knowledge. The biggest difference between managers and leaders is the way they motivate the people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do. (Changing Minds, 2005).

A leader is a person who a workforce chooses to follow. A leader exhibits special qualities that induce ...

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A leader is a person who a workforce chooses to follow. A leader exhibits special qualities that induce people to admire him or her. These qualities can include drive, motivation, integrity and self-confidence. A good leader can motivate people to do what is asked. He or she is to provide a clear vision and direction. An effective leader understands that leadership is not just a trait; it is also a responsibility.

Leadership is the ability to get people to follow. To have effective leadership a leader needs to give his or her subordinates a direction to go and be able to motivate those subordinates in that direction. To be a good leader one must be able to show an understanding of his or her subordinates and not view them just as a resource. Through this understanding a leader can find out what it takes to motivate the workforce to get them to work towards their goals.

Leaders are a key element to a successful organization. We know it is through their leadership abilities that a workforce gets the job done but he or she also has another responsibly and that is to create and maintain a healthy organizational culture. An organizational culture is “the attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and customs of an organization,” (Wikipedia, 2005). The culture can be viewed as the organizations personality. It is up to the leaders within each company to form the culture around the workforce.

Once the culture has been created it is up to the leaders to maintain that culture. One way that leaders can do this is by defining a set of rules. These rules explain what is expected from each person in the workforce every day and why. Also the leaders can take the company’s defined goals and visions and create a strategic plan that can identify the company’s needs. These needs can then be used to help form the culture. Another way that leaders can maintain the culture is by involving employees, explain the processes and allow employees to ask questions. This will allow the employees to become clear on any misunderstandings that may have arisen.

Leaders can create and maintain a good culture by setting examples. If the employees see the leaders work hard, exercise excellent work ethics, and maintain a positive outlook then they will start to imitate them in turn creating and maintaining a good culture. Another way leaders can maintain a good culture is by not disciplining his or her employees in negative ways like yelling, or threatening them. Employees must learn from their mistakes and it is up to the leader to let them know what they did wrong and explain to them how they can avoid future mistakes. These examples can be used to create and maintain a healthy and influential organizational culture. It is up to the leaders within the company to maintain and grow with this culture.

One of the biggest influences on an organization’s culture is change. Culture is supposed to imply structural stability. A leader should make sure to prepare an organization and its employees for change. Leaders should inform all employees if there is a change to occur in advance. This allows employees to prepare and adapt. Leaders should explain the change and reasons behind the change. In the mortgage industry, our rates are always changing. It helps when our leaders explain to us the market and the reasons for the changes. Then it is easier for us the relay this information to the brokers we do business with.

As we look back we can see how management and leadership are two different concepts. Management is the conception of the goals, duties, and the administration of the company. Leadership, on the other hand is the ability to take a workforce and lead them towards the goals that management has set. It is also up to the leaders to create and maintain a healthy organizational culture so that the workforce can help the company maintain its own identity. It is up to management to make sure that the plans and processes are in place, and it is up to the leaders that have the leadership abilities to act on those plans and use those processes.