Blog Four: Leadership

Leadership

Leadership and management are often perceived to be the same thing, however the roles of a manager and a leader can differ greatly. Although some characteristics and roles of managers and leaders can cross over, for example communication skills, there are also many separate qualities between the two roles.

A leader is someone who should inspire, motivate, and create enthusiasm within a team. A leader should also be passionate enough about what they do in order to create ideas and share visions with others in the group, because this will further help to motive the team they are leading. Someone who leads a team is not necessarily in charge or at the top of the hierarchy within the organisation, but holds the characteristics and skills required to drive a team.

On the other hand, a manager is likely to fit in a hierarchy, usually at the top, or near the top, depending on the organisation. The role of a manager would include being in-charge and control of a group of people lower down the hierarchal scale. A manager plans, delegates and enforces rules and procedures in order to reach goals and objectives and also achieve results required by the organisation. This is a clear difference between a manager and a leader because managers are results driven, whereas leaders are usually more passionate driven. (Forrest & Tolltree 1996)

Mullins (2007) suggests another clear difference between managers and leaders. He suggests that leaders are more personal and involved with the team they work with, whereas a manager is more impersonal and less involved emotionally.

Key Leader

I attended The Beaconsfield School for my entire secondary education, including A Levels. Throughout my time at the school I had a number of different year, and key-stage leaders, however only one of them left a positive lasting impression. She was the head of sixth form, and therefore was the leader for all sixth formers within the school.

As a leader she was very passionate about education and achieving, whilst also inspiring the people around her. Her determination and drive was always passed on to the students she taught and mentored, creating a positive environment throughout the sixth form.

She was also very hands-on and involved in sixth form life and her positive energy reflected on the rest of the sixth form.

Her ability to adapt, and change depending on what situation she was in and who she was working with made her a good leader. For example is she was working with students who struggled to concentrate or stay on task, she would find a way to motivate them and come up with a different way to approach and take on the task.

Fig 1: A diagram of Adair's Theory

I feel that this relates back to Adair’s theory of the contingency approach to leadership; he believes that a leader who is able to adapt and change depending on the task, the team and needs of the individuals is an effective leader.

Conclusion

Overall, I feel that a leader is more involved with a team, both emotionally and physically, whereas a manager will delegate, oversee and control and team.

After looking over the characteristics roles of a leader and manager, I have come to the conclusion that a leader is part of a team, and a manager is head of a team.

References:

·      Simpson, M. (2011) Leadership [PowerPoint]

·      Fig 1;

o   Google images – ‘Adair’s theory’ [online]. Available from: http://www.google.co.uk/search?pq=leadership&hl=en&sugexp=kjrmc&cp=25&gs_id=1k&xhr=t&q=leadership+and+management+advisory+service&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1277&bih=679&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=adair%27s+theory&pbx=1&oq=adair%27s+theory&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=5625l8177l0l8504l10l7l0l0l0l0l585l585l5-1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=f13d44a992964251&biw=1277&bih=635 [assessed: October 30^th 2011]