Successful Leadership in Management = Training Scott Miller Principals of Management Abstract Although leadership and management are two different things, it takes both in order to be a truly good manager. Leadership is described as the process by which an individual exerts influence over other people and inspires, motivates, and directs their activities to help achieve group or organizational goals whereas management is described as the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively (Jones & George, 2009).
Maslow states that “To understand and motivate people, you must know human nature. ” Human nature is the common qualities of all human beings. People behave according to certain principles of human nature (Mazlow, 1986). Managers, in general, have the ability to do one or the other of these things but a good manager will be able to do both successfully. According to Sam Allman, leadership changes the world and management maintains it (Allman, 2009). Sometimes it is not enough to simply manage to make a company succeed and a person can be a leader but they can fail without proper direction.
Training is plays an important part for any manager because the more they learn the better they can do their job. Taking a look at both leadership and management may help to improve a manager’s skills and make them a better all around manager. According to Allman, leadership changes the world and management maintains it. Successful Leadership in Management = Training First, we take a good look at leadership, which is considered a critical management skill. A leader needs to be able to inspire their workers to achieve higher levels of teamwork.
There are certain things that a leader must know and be able to do. These things do not always come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they do not rest on their laurels. Unfortunately, according to an article by Bill Joiner, only about ten percent of managers have mastered the level of agility needed for consistently effective leadership in today’s world economy. The leadership reference guide that Mr. Joiner uses in his article shows four levels and three types of agility (Joiner, 2009).
Although this is only one perspective of leadership, a lot of work and research was done to obtain the results shown. It suggests that there is still much training needed for about ninety percent of managers in the business community today. A good leader will know how to motivate their employees so that they can get the most out of them. Through positive reinforcement such as positive feedback, incentives, bonuses, or even company events a manager can improve employee morale and production greatly (Jones & George, 2009).
Since leadership is not always a natural thing for managers, it is important for most major companies to train them. Leadership training can be done through seminars, retreats, workshops, or even motivational speakers. Even those who are in the office and never deal with customers need to deal with co-workers or employees. Now we can take a look at the importance of good management. In every large organization, there’s a hierarchy of management that keeps the whole operation running smoothly. As with leadership, there are certain things that a manager must know and be able to do.
Management is also a skill that can be learned. Many managers learn their trade on the job. They work their way up the corporate ladder. A manager can be good at planning, organizing, and leading effectively but not efficiently or the other way around. Training sessions or going back to school, help the manager improve their skills so that they may do a better job for their company (Jones ; George, 2009). In my opinion, managers should be like children, always curious to learn something new.
As the world of business changes the manager does also. One example of bad management was shown by Avon when their stocks plunged in 2006. At the same time we can show good management by the way that Andrea Jung took action to correct the problems and got Avon back on track (Jones ; George, 2009). Although a company can grow to worldwide proportions, there still needs to be strong management team in place to keep things going with all members around the globe focused on the same organizational goals. This case shows that no matter how large a ompany gets, it needs to train all of its managers to follow the same path toward the company’s overall goals or it could collapse. U. S. businesses now have too many leaders who are detached from the messy process of managing (Mintzberg, 2009). There are many ways to be a successful manager but it all starts and ends with training. Leaders may know how to lead but not know how to manage. The same goes for managers. They may now how to manage but have no idea how to lead. The key to great management is to find a balance of both skills.
Every manager needs to learn to lead their employees properly to achieve the most efficient and effective organizational goals. Managers need to be able to adapt to any situation without alienating anyone or losing sight of the company’s goals. With more and more companies changing the way they do business it will benefit any manager to become a people person. For years, managers went in to work and barked out orders or directions but today they must have more finesse. They need to know how to act and speak with their employees so that they can get the most out of them.
It is my opinion that the best way to do this is to keep the employee happy and that managers can improve their ability to empower others by focusing on their own personal development. These things can be accomplished effectively and efficiently through proper training. As Stanford University emeritus professor James G. March put it: “Leadership involves plumbing as well as poetry. ” Instead of distinguishing leaders from managers, we should encourage all managers to be leaders (Mintzberg, 2009). References Jones, G. , ; George, J. 2009). Contemporary Management, SIXTH edition. Magraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NY 2009. Allman, S. (October 2009). Leadership vs. Management, Retrieved December 11, 2009, from the www. http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? index=11;did=1876357051;SrchMode=1;sid=3;Fmt=6;VInst=PROD;VType=PQD;RQT=309;VName=PQD;TS=1260721358;clientId=83181 Joiner, B. (Mar/Apr 2009). Guide to Agile Leadership, Industrial Management; 51, 2; ABI/INFORM Global, pg. 10, retrieved December 10, 2009 from the www.
