Term Paper on "Leadership Management Literature Abounds With Stories"

Term Paper 5 pages (1436 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Leadership

Management literature abounds with stories of great leaders and the influence they exercised on their organizations. Indeed, the importance of Lee Iaccoca to Chrysler, Mary Kay to Mary Kay Cosmetics, Walt Disney to Walt Disney Company and many more such celebrity leaders to their respective organizations is now legend in management circles (Harris, 1993, p. 370). Yet, it appears that there is no single leadership theory, which can satisfactorily explain what effective leadership is. This is because the reality of leadership is quite complex (Chemers, 1997, p.1). For instance, effective leadership is commonly confused with managerial abilities, whereas, in point of fact, there are important distinctions. It is the objective of this paper to describe the difference between leadership and management, followed by an examination of the role responsibility of leaders in creating and maintaining a healthy organizational culture.

All organizational survival is a question of balance between stability on the one hand and responsiveness to a dynamic environment on the other. For instance, the development of efficient standardized operating procedures enhances reliability and productivity. However, since most organizations need to quickly respond to an evolving and competitive environment, internal structures and resources must also be amenable to facilitating external adaptability functions. Thus, it is evident that leaders must play a central role in helping organizations develop appropriate policies and systems for meeting both internal goals and external demands. Since organizations are nothing but a group or groups of people working together, this means that the leadership function really involves coordinating the efforts of people. It follows, therefore, that the development of a healthy organizational culture, which allows for teamwork, achievement of goals, problem solving, innovation, and creativity, is integral to effective leadership (Chemers, 1997, p. 4-5).

The leadership responsibilities described above, in fact, indicate the first fundamental difference between leadership and managerial skills. And that is, one of perspective. As Harris (1993, p. 372) points out, the four broad functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are clearly important management skills in leading others. but, there are important distinctions between leadership and management. One such distinction is that leaders must necessarily focus on innovation and change, whereas managers need, and usually do, concentrate only on creating stability, harmony, and constancy. In fact, it is this primary distinction that has probably led to the view that "managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things."

If leadership is about "doing the right thing," it implies that a leader has to understand the environment and an organization's needs and adapt his or her individual style accordingly. Indeed, perhaps it is the recognition of this fact that led Peter Drucker, the famous management guru, to observe that "leaders grow; they are not made." As against this, traditional management behavior tends to maintain the status quo (Harris, 1993, p. 372).

In fact, it is not enough for a leader to personally adapt to the contingencies of a given situation. for, organizational change management can only be successful when the people in an organization are equally responsive and flexible. Therefore, it follows that leadership involves building a relationship with people that results in highly motivated, mission-oriented, and goal-directed team members. Indeed, it is precisely this aspect of the leadership function that has led to the key features of productive leader-follower relationships being described as coaching, judgment, and transactional exchange (Chemers, 1997, p. 155).

Interestingly, the need for leadership to affect change by motivating and training the people in an organization leads to the philosophy of delegation and empowerment. This philosophy, in turn, earmarks another important difference between leadership and management: "Leaders work towards empowerment of subordinates whereas managers concentrate on developing power rather than people." (Harris, 1993, p. 374) Again, a difference in the focus of leadership and management is apparent here. This difference in focus manifests itself in other areas as well. For example, a leader is more conscious of the need to manage his or her image among the rank and file in an organization, whereas a manager's image management is usually targeted at his or her seniors.

Leadership's image management focus also involves establishing a legitimate basis for attempts to influence others, which has been identified by a wide body of leadership research studies as building a relationship based on honesty… READ MORE

How to Reference "Leadership Management Literature Abounds With Stories" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Ethics in Management Research Proposal

Ethics and Management

Management and Ethics

In this paper, the author investigates the ethics of business management. After reviewing the literature to determine the concerns mentioned by business ethicists, the… read more

Research Proposal 55 pages (17336 words) Sources: 30 Topic: Ethics / Morality

---

Development of Health Management System in Saudi Arabia Research Proposal

Healthcare in Saudi Arabia

Project Title: Development of Health Management Systems in Saudi Arabia

Geopolitical Overview

Within the global healthcare model there are various expressions of appropriateness of care. In… read more

Research Proposal 40 pages (13191 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Israel / Palestine / Arab World

---

Business Ethics in the Fire Service Research Paper

Business Ethics in the Fire Service

The fire service in most countries is held in high esteem and widely regarded as a paragon of ethical business practices. Because the fire… read more

Research Paper 10 pages (3000 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Ethics / Morality

---

Videogames and Violence in Children Term Paper

Video Games & Violence in Children

"It depends," Eisenman (2004) stresses in regard to whether playing violent video games, one of the primary contemporary substitutions for yesteryears' play, increases violence… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (5597 words) Sources: 21 Style: APA Topic: Recreation / Leisure / Tourism

---

Quiksilver Case Study

Quiksilver, Inc. Case Study

Brief Company Description

Founded in 1976, Quiksilver, Inc. (hereinafter alternatively "the company") is headquartered Huntington Beach, California and competes in the global surf- and sports-apparel and… read more

Case Study 10 pages (2910 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>