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Management Vs Leadership Essay

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Management vs. Leadership

Management and leadership functions are definitely not one and the same, although they are unavoidably linked together hand and hand. Evidently, it is clear to note that they overlap and compliment one another. Having one without the other no doubt will cause more problems than it solves. Yet the two indefinitely have their major differences. To start, a manager manages tasks and systems, while a leader leads and inspires people. “The manager’s job is to plan, organize and coordinate. The leader’s job is to inspire and motivate.” (Murray, 2010).

Management

Management as a concept was developed in the last 100 years partly due to the booming industrial revolution. “The definition of management is to …show more content…

While the manager administers, the leader innovates; one maintains, while the other develops. Managers focus on systems, structure and routine, while leaders focus on people. One controls, while the other inspires trust; one accepts the status quo and does things right, while the other challenges the status quo and does the right thing. (Murray, 2010).

Nevertheless, both these roles overlap and should not be separated. Like leaders, managers also have the ability to influence a group of individuals to meet their shared goals. Management combined with leadership can help achieve a planned systematic change. These instances describe a manager operating under leadership. On the opposite end, when leaders participate in planning, organizing, and staffing, they are operating within management. (Murray, 2010). Leadership combined with management can keep groups and organizations appropriately aligned with its environment.

Today we are in a new economy, where the ultimate value lies in our knowledge workers; where management and leadership can no longer be separated in both analysis and practice. In the words of social ecologist, Peter Drucker, with the rise of the knowledge worker, “one does not ‘manage’ people… The task is to lead people. And the goal is to make productive the specific strengths and knowledge of every individual.” (Murray, 2010). Managers today are not just expected to assign a

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