Understanding Management and Leadership Flashcards
Definition of leadership
Leadership - Deciding on the direction for a business or a departmental or functional area, setting objectives that reflect this, and inspiring and motivating staff to achieve these objectives.
Definition of Management
Management - Getting things done by planning, organising and coordinating people and resources
Difference between leaders and managers
Leaders inspire, take risks, set strategy and are followed whereas managers implement others ideas, use authority, manage risks and have subordinates
Role of managers
• Setting objectives
• Analysing
• Leading
• Making decisions
• Reviewing
Different types of managers
Senior management - Board of directors. Led by the CEO and are responsible to the shareholders
Middle management - The run departments and manage junior management. They are accountable to senior management.
Junior management - They are accountable to middle management and will ensure workers take care of day to day tasks
What is the clear distinction between the senior managers and middle manager
In most organisations there is a clear distinction between senior managers and middle managers. In most cases, senior managers for example, marketing and finance directors, work directly with the chief executive or managing director, that is, the overall leader of the organization. It is this group that is often defined as the “leaders”. However in practice, leadership occurs at all levels, so in a large organization or branch, for example, departmental managers are actually middle managers in the context of the business as a whole, but in their branch or department they are leaders.
Different meanings of leadership
- getting others to follow
- the use of authority in decision making
- a personal characteristic
- an ability to achieve effective performance in others
What is the general interpretation of leadership?
The general interpretation of leadership is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of their people.
Views of traditional and modern leadership
Traditional view of leadership: decision making, command and control
Modern view of leadership: inspiration, create a vision, building effective teams
Importance of leadership in modern businesses
Changing organisational structures: flatter + greater delegation, teamwork + focus on quality assurance, coaching, support & empowerment
Rapid environmental change: change is becoming a constant feature of business life, soft skills of leadership & management increasingly important
What is a leadership style?
A leadership style is the way that the functions of leadership are carried out. The way that a leader behaves.
The role of strategic leadership
Strategic leaders are the people who influence or control the corporate strategy of a business. Occurs both in small forms and large corporates. Often personally identified with the strategy.
How strategic leadership is demonstrated:
Leadership as command - where leaders take direct control
Leadership as vision - where leaders set the vision and core beliefs
Leadership as symbolic - where the leader is the embodiment of the strategy, but not involved day to day
Leadership as decision-making - where the leader weighs up the options and decides.
Broad classification of leadership
- Authoritarian
- Paternalistic
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
Information about Authoritarian Leadership
• Focus of power is with the manager
• Communication is top-down & one-way
• Formal systems of command & control
• Use of rewards & penalties
• Very little delegation
• McGregor Theory X approach
