All of us can be a leader?
All of us can be a manager?
These questions were being raised during our class in the Organizational Analysis subject. This might be difficult to answer directly if without knowing the depth roles of these two positions. During the class there are also many arguments happened and, answers were might lead to the world of confusion in the sense of different situations that life brings. Some of the students they reflect these two positions in a Private and Public organizations, but we all know these two the roles are not design only for certain area of organization. As the way I see it, this can be applied to all organizations even they have different business goals or even to our own selves to direct path and create strategies to survive. In order to come up with the final conclusion if all of us can be able to perform the serious roles of being a Leader or Manger, we need to know the true definition, functions, responsibilities and their challenging tasks in a certain organization.
Leadership and management are terms that are often used interchangeably in the business world to represent someone who manages a team of people. In reality leadership vs. management have very different meanings. From this concept, our class was confused identifying its role in the real nature of work because some managers they act as like leader, and leader performs the role of mangers. The student asked the presenter about the role of president of the Philippines that this where can be categorized, a leader or Manager. Many opinions were being shared, like someone claimed that the president is in manager side, but this ground quit not clear because the fact that he is not only following traditional policies for implementation but he able to show the people that at the same time he can lead the people through his inspiring dialogue to different situations. My point here is, we cannot say 100 % he is doing managerial works but he able to do the job like leading his people into the right thing. Obviously, his position is not easy for him to make his presidency is satisfying to everyone. To be a great manager you must understand what it takes to also be a great leader. I will begin by breaking down some key characteristics of a manager. This role in a typical company or organization will reflect a person who's primary focus is on managing a team of people and their activities. The role can differ by scope, types of roles, and can sometimes even be focused on efforts outside of true people management, for example project and process managers.
One of the key characteristics of a manager is very basic in the sense that they are someone who was given their authority by the nature of their role. They ensure work gets done, focus on day to day tasks, and manage the activities of others. This situation come from my daily experiences, my work is in line with managing computer laboratories and administer 15 staff. By nature of teaching technologies in a classroom setting, we make it sure that facilities are ready for molding students so that they will reach their daily objectives of the class. Planning the best ways to support every class activities is what we do before the day. As I can say that Managers, their focal point is on strategic activities and often times have a more directive and controlling approach. Being strategic is not altogether a negative approach as this is a skill set that is greatly needed in business especially in the fast paced environments most of us work and live in. Being able to organize people to accomplish tasks can be a great asset.
In many organizations, managers are often times the previous high performers at the employee level. Does this mean they are ready for the challenge of people management? In many cases, the answer is no. To demonstrate solid characteristics of a manager, these previous high performers must be trained. While all types of people can manage, we will now examine what makes a manager a solid leader. To survive in the twenty-first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders, not managers. Leaders conquer the context, the turbulent, ambiguous surroundings that sometimes seem to conspire against us and will surely suffocate us if we let them while managers surrender to it. Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust, about people.
Now if we look at the characteristics of a leader. When we hear the term, leader, a number of images may pop into our head. One phrase that may come to mind is "he or she is a born leader". This phrase does depict a great deal about the difference in managers and leaders as there are a great many distinctions. To demonstrate characteristics of a leader you must be more strategically focused and rather than directing employees through tasks, they inspire and motivate employees to drive themselves. Leaders are adapting in the art of Emotional Intelligence this means has the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups and apply it in a way that attains the best work out of their people.
Leaders are also very focused on change. Recognizing that continual improvement can be achieved in their people and their activities can be a great step towards continued success. Being able to lead their teams through change, rather than manage them through it has infinite rewards.
A commonly coined phrase tells us that “leadership is doing the right thing and management is doing things right”. This illustrates how the two skill sets need to work together. In order to be fully rounded, you must have the ability to manage the day to day tasks and deliver results, while seeing the opportunity for change and the big picture. Demonstrating good leadership skills without the management skills to support it will leave you with an inability to operationalize your visions. Likewise, being a good manager without good leadership skills will cause continual challenges in motivating your team and producing the results you are trying to manage to. Being able to blend these two styles is truly a unique skill set. Keep in mind there are an abundance of managers in the world but very few truly embody the characteristics of a leader. Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. They develop the means for changing the original balance of forces so that their vision can be realized. Saturday morning, we were discussing leadership and management and our professor asked the class if anyone could become a leader. Maybe t he point he was trying to make was (in my own perception only sir) that while most professions require some sort of qualification before they allow someone into their group, there is no test for leadership. Physicians, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Teachers, Project Managers, Marines, Police Officers, Firefighters, Scientists… you get the idea… all require you to pass some sort of test before you can join their group. They may require college, certification, or physical stamina, but they do require something. What of leadership? Can anyone be a leader? What are the requirements?
If there are no formal requirements then I suppose anyone can be a leader. This is where the discussion got interesting. I proposed that despite there being no formal requirements for leadership, that just like a Physician, not everyone is qualified to be a leader. The responses I got were great (I asked my fellow teacher and some determined students, they come up with the same concept). Some felt that anyone could be a leader. Others suggested that leadership could be learned.
The question I asked to them was, “can someone pick up Leadership for Dummies, and become a good leader? Can anyone, become a leader?” The discussion made me realize two things, anyone can become a good leader but not everyone will become a good leader. During the discussion I was reminded that while some people try to become good leaders, they eventually fail at it, sometimes miserably. Why? Because there is a cost to leadership that not everyone is willing to pay. What does it take to become a good leader? Well, here are some of the requirements for someone wanting to become a good leader. These based on the information from the book that highlighted these following:
1. The Heart of a Leader – A deep desire to improve the world around them, perhaps at great personal risk or cost.
2. A deep desire for knowledge and truth. Leaders are readers. A leader will read a book regularly, before watching TV.
3. A leader must be willing to listen to others. He or she must have the ability to accept criticism AND to alter their behavior when necessary.
4. Courage to face themselves when they look in the mirror. A good leader will learn to face his or her demons and to work to get rid of them.
5. Perseverance – to continuously improve their skills and to go beyond their comfort zone.
6. Commitment to Excellence and a very strong work ethic to improve their leadership skills.
If a person is willing to do these things, he or she can become a good leader. Based on their abilities, some may become better than others, but we can all become good leaders, if we’re willing to pay the price. But why then do we have people who “try” to become leaders but fail? Because they don’t want to, or in some cases can’t, pay the price. There are requirements for good leadership. What about you? Are you willing to pay the price?
All of us can be a manager?
These questions were being raised during our class in the Organizational Analysis subject. This might be difficult to answer directly if without knowing the depth roles of these two positions. During the class there are also many arguments happened and, answers were might lead to the world of confusion in the sense of different situations that life brings. Some of the students they reflect these two positions in a Private and Public organizations, but we all know these two the roles are not design only for certain area of organization. As the way I see it, this can be applied to all organizations even they have different business goals or even to our own selves to direct path and create strategies to survive. In order to come up with the final conclusion if all of us can be able to perform the serious roles of being a Leader or Manger, we need to know the true definition, functions, responsibilities and their challenging tasks in a certain organization.
Leadership and management are terms that are often used interchangeably in the business world to represent someone who manages a team of people. In reality leadership vs. management have very different meanings. From this concept, our class was confused identifying its role in the real nature of work because some managers they act as like leader, and leader performs the role of mangers. The student asked the presenter about the role of president of the Philippines that this where can be categorized, a leader or Manager. Many opinions were being shared, like someone claimed that the president is in manager side, but this ground quit not clear because the fact that he is not only following traditional policies for implementation but he able to show the people that at the same time he can lead the people through his inspiring dialogue to different situations. My point here is, we cannot say 100 % he is doing managerial works but he able to do the job like leading his people into the right thing. Obviously, his position is not easy for him to make his presidency is satisfying to everyone. To be a great manager you must understand what it takes to also be a great leader. I will begin by breaking down some key characteristics of a manager. This role in a typical company or organization will reflect a person who's primary focus is on managing a team of people and their activities. The role can differ by scope, types of roles, and can sometimes even be focused on efforts outside of true people management, for example project and process managers.
One of the key characteristics of a manager is very basic in the sense that they are someone who was given their authority by the nature of their role. They ensure work gets done, focus on day to day tasks, and manage the activities of others. This situation come from my daily experiences, my work is in line with managing computer laboratories and administer 15 staff. By nature of teaching technologies in a classroom setting, we make it sure that facilities are ready for molding students so that they will reach their daily objectives of the class. Planning the best ways to support every class activities is what we do before the day. As I can say that Managers, their focal point is on strategic activities and often times have a more directive and controlling approach. Being strategic is not altogether a negative approach as this is a skill set that is greatly needed in business especially in the fast paced environments most of us work and live in. Being able to organize people to accomplish tasks can be a great asset.
In many organizations, managers are often times the previous high performers at the employee level. Does this mean they are ready for the challenge of people management? In many cases, the answer is no. To demonstrate solid characteristics of a manager, these previous high performers must be trained. While all types of people can manage, we will now examine what makes a manager a solid leader. To survive in the twenty-first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders, not managers. Leaders conquer the context, the turbulent, ambiguous surroundings that sometimes seem to conspire against us and will surely suffocate us if we let them while managers surrender to it. Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust, about people.
Now if we look at the characteristics of a leader. When we hear the term, leader, a number of images may pop into our head. One phrase that may come to mind is "he or she is a born leader". This phrase does depict a great deal about the difference in managers and leaders as there are a great many distinctions. To demonstrate characteristics of a leader you must be more strategically focused and rather than directing employees through tasks, they inspire and motivate employees to drive themselves. Leaders are adapting in the art of Emotional Intelligence this means has the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups and apply it in a way that attains the best work out of their people.
Leaders are also very focused on change. Recognizing that continual improvement can be achieved in their people and their activities can be a great step towards continued success. Being able to lead their teams through change, rather than manage them through it has infinite rewards.
A commonly coined phrase tells us that “leadership is doing the right thing and management is doing things right”. This illustrates how the two skill sets need to work together. In order to be fully rounded, you must have the ability to manage the day to day tasks and deliver results, while seeing the opportunity for change and the big picture. Demonstrating good leadership skills without the management skills to support it will leave you with an inability to operationalize your visions. Likewise, being a good manager without good leadership skills will cause continual challenges in motivating your team and producing the results you are trying to manage to. Being able to blend these two styles is truly a unique skill set. Keep in mind there are an abundance of managers in the world but very few truly embody the characteristics of a leader. Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. They develop the means for changing the original balance of forces so that their vision can be realized. Saturday morning, we were discussing leadership and management and our professor asked the class if anyone could become a leader. Maybe t he point he was trying to make was (in my own perception only sir) that while most professions require some sort of qualification before they allow someone into their group, there is no test for leadership. Physicians, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Teachers, Project Managers, Marines, Police Officers, Firefighters, Scientists… you get the idea… all require you to pass some sort of test before you can join their group. They may require college, certification, or physical stamina, but they do require something. What of leadership? Can anyone be a leader? What are the requirements?
If there are no formal requirements then I suppose anyone can be a leader. This is where the discussion got interesting. I proposed that despite there being no formal requirements for leadership, that just like a Physician, not everyone is qualified to be a leader. The responses I got were great (I asked my fellow teacher and some determined students, they come up with the same concept). Some felt that anyone could be a leader. Others suggested that leadership could be learned.
The question I asked to them was, “can someone pick up Leadership for Dummies, and become a good leader? Can anyone, become a leader?” The discussion made me realize two things, anyone can become a good leader but not everyone will become a good leader. During the discussion I was reminded that while some people try to become good leaders, they eventually fail at it, sometimes miserably. Why? Because there is a cost to leadership that not everyone is willing to pay. What does it take to become a good leader? Well, here are some of the requirements for someone wanting to become a good leader. These based on the information from the book that highlighted these following:
1. The Heart of a Leader – A deep desire to improve the world around them, perhaps at great personal risk or cost.
2. A deep desire for knowledge and truth. Leaders are readers. A leader will read a book regularly, before watching TV.
3. A leader must be willing to listen to others. He or she must have the ability to accept criticism AND to alter their behavior when necessary.
4. Courage to face themselves when they look in the mirror. A good leader will learn to face his or her demons and to work to get rid of them.
5. Perseverance – to continuously improve their skills and to go beyond their comfort zone.
6. Commitment to Excellence and a very strong work ethic to improve their leadership skills.
If a person is willing to do these things, he or she can become a good leader. Based on their abilities, some may become better than others, but we can all become good leaders, if we’re willing to pay the price. But why then do we have people who “try” to become leaders but fail? Because they don’t want to, or in some cases can’t, pay the price. There are requirements for good leadership. What about you? Are you willing to pay the price?
