Leadership and Management Am I a Leader or Am I a Manager The art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly

and enthusiastically towards the attainment of a group goal as it is defined, is it an absolute true? Do you know that lots of experts attempted to define the word Leadership, and the number of those who define it is equal to the number of its definition, which explains that there is no distinct meaning for it. And it is often mistaken that leadership is the same as management or vise versa. Sometimes it is thought as a part of management and is one of the functions of a manager. But which is really a part of or a function of? Which one is of higher value and which is of not? In this article, Ill discuss the difference between management and leadership. These are two different words that may be closely related with each other and may only be separated by a thin line, a thin line which tells thousands or even million of stories (either good or bad) inside an organization, issues that leads to conflicts and even crises. An organization is a collection of people working together to achieve a common purpose. Its purpose is to produce goods and or services that will give customer satisfaction which is dependent on their needs and wants. And in order for the organization to achieve this, someone from the team must take the lead and manage. But is it really leading or is it managing? Management produces orderly results and usually the one in charge is known as the manager (someone who is responsible for the work performance of one or more other person), while leadership creates useful change and the person in charge is the leader (someone who directs and influence members to perform well in accordance to organizations goal), Which one is really better, to lead or to manage, or should I say to be a leader or to be a manager? We actually need both, although leadership is highly related to management, they are not similar in concept. But it is really too hard to determine which one is above or better than the other. Just keep in mind whichever is better for you, both requires greater responsibility, both requires greater effort to satisfy the clients and provide betterment for the organization and of the persons involved in the in-and-out process implemented

To further understand the difference of it, here are some distinction between a leader and a manager: MANAGER Administers A Copy Maintains Focus on system structure Relies on control Short term view Ask why and how Eyes on the bottom line Doer LEADER Innovates An Original Develops Focus on people Inspires trust Long term view Ask what and why Eyes on the horizon Thinker

Does it help? Or it just worsens the scenario? For some, in order for an individual to manage others, they must first know how to lead, but for others it is the other way around, you should learn how to lead first in order for you to manage. Leading requires managerial skills and one function of management and being a manager is leadership along with planning, organizing and controlling. Its getting complicated, right? It is important that you have the knowledge, skills and traits of a leader in order for you to lead. But it doesnt mean that you are already a leader if you have been appointed a job or a position. You must choose your own leadership style and you need to be effective with it. But how can you be an effective leader? And what are those styles of leadership where you can choose from? Effective leadership really plays a crucial role for an organization group to exist. In order for you to be an effective leader, you need to consider the following criteria; group performance, attainment of group goal, group growth, group preparedness, capacity to deal with crises, subordinate satisfaction with the leader, and attitude of followers towards the leader. Aside from these criteria, an effective leader must also possess the following traits: knowledge, bearing, courage, endurance, enthusiasm, integrity, decisiveness, dependability, force, humility, humor, initiative, judgment, justice, loyalty, sympathy, empathy, tact, unselfishness, and wit. If you already

meet all of those criteria and possess all of those given traits, you can then build your own leadership style. Leadership style is the way certain leader conveys the command to his subordinates or to the member of the group, how he deal with them and how he handle crises, towards achieving good interpersonal prominence in the organization. Leadership performance depends as much on the organization as it depends on the leaders own attributes. A leader can be effective in one situation and be ineffective on another. This is where the situational leadership comes in; it is actually the collaboration of all leadership style. It is selecting the most appropriate style of leadership depending on a particular situation. You cannot be an autocratic leader at all times, where a leader leads to withhold or give rewards or punishment, likewise, be a democratic leader, where the leader involves his subordinates in decision making so that they feel jointly responsible for the goals, purpose and projects which builds the feeling of responsibility. You can also choose on being a benevolent-autocratic leader, where a father-figure leader wants everyone to feel good, here, efficiency and affectivity is sacrificed in order not to rock the boat. Or be a free-in leader, in here leader depend largely on their subordinates to set their own goals and the means of achieving them. Have you chosen your leadership style? Hope so! Just always keep this in mind, whatever leadership style youve chosen, make sure that it is always for the betterment of everyone; be utilitarian. It is important that youre concerned with the development of oneself as well as others, because a group or an organization is not juts consists of either the manager or the leader, members are also part of it and are most likely of same importance as anyone in the organization. Whatever it is, whoever you are, whichever is better for you, what really matter is your own ATTITUDE, as a leader or as a manager in order for you to be an effective one.