UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP

Susan Lancaster

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

OL554 – Management Philosophy and Practice

Instructor: Dr. Bridgit Olsen

November 26, 2013  

According to (Mintzberg. 2009. p. 8) over the years “it has become fashionable to distinguish leaders from managers” but he questions whether this should be occurring. This is because when considering management and leadership, it can be extremely difficult to distinguish the difference between these concepts while in practice. The reason for this is because he believes that management skills are needed to effectively lead and leadership skills are needed to effectively manage. 
Since this may be the case, I think that it is important to try and ensure that leaders and/or managers understand this when practicing in a management and/or leadership position. Understanding management and leadership can also be accomplished by implementing a specified training program that addresses these concepts with practicing managers. Therefore, my overall purpose of this paper is to further address this topic by discussing what management and leadership are according to Mintzberg’s Model of Management and how I would teach managers about these concepts by implementing a specified training program.

What is Effective Management and Leadership?

Throughout history, several theories of management have been designed in an attempt to better understand the overall concept of effective management and/or leadership. After considering these theories, I believe that (Mintzberg. 2009), best explains the overall concept of effective managing and/or leading. This is because he states that “managing takes place on three planes, from the conceptual to the concrete: with information, through people, and to action directly” (p. 49). A further evaluation of these planes is as follows:

Information – This is done when managers lead through communicating and controlling internal and external factors. Two components that are included with internal communication are monitoring and nerve center. While, three components included with external communication are spokesperson, nerve center and disseminating. Furthermore, five components that are included with internal control are designing, delegating, deeming, distributing, and designating.

Through People – This means that managers will lead internally and link externally. Four components that are included with internal leading include developing individuals, team building, energizing individuals and strengthening culture. While, five components that are associated with external linking include transmitting, buffering, networking, representing and convincing/conveying.

Action Directly – This means that managers will lead by doing what needs to be done internally and while dealing with the external. Two components that are associated with internal doing include handling disturbances and managing projects. While, two components included with external dealing are mobilizing support and building strong coalitions.

Mintzberg also supports the idea that effective management and leadership can be affected based on which position each manager is in. He states that there are three main levels of management that determine the overall function/s in each position. These levels include “top managers” who have power and control over middle and bottom managers, “middle managers” who have power and control over bottom managers, and “bottom managers” who has limited power and control over subordinate workers but no other managers. Therefore, it is important to address these levels with managers in practice, so they can better understand what is required.

How I Would Teach Managers About Management and Leadership?

When considering Mintzberg’s Management Theory, I believe that it may be used to successfully teach managers the slight distinction between management and leadership, and initiate a higher level of effective management and/or leadership while in practice. I would accomplish this by teaching managers about this theory through a required onsite training class which also addresses the reasons that I support it.

The first reason that I support Mintzberg’s theory is because it makes managers the center of focus, which is needed to effectively communicate and control behaviors or other factors that internally and externally affect the organization. The second reason that I support this theoretical framework is because it addresses the importance of leading and linking for the common good of the people and organization. This is important because if people are more successful through implementation of self-building techniques, then there may be a higher chance that managers and organizations will also become more successful.

A third reason that I support Mintzberg’s theory is because it fosters the idea that managers must take action through proper doing and dealing with the tasks at hand. This means that managers will need to be qualified enough to ensure that all aspects associated with the position are effectively managed. I also think that this is extremely important because there are so many organizations in today’s world that experience reduced success due to ineffective management and leadership.

I am confident that if proper training of managers is implemented in the correct manner, then most of them will be able to understand the slight distinction between these concepts. During this overall process, they can also acquire a better understanding of what their particular position entails to succeed. If this occurs, it may then increase the overall success rate of workers and overall organization as well.

Conclusion

Over the years, some people choose to distinguish management from leadership by trying to separate the two concepts. However, Mintzberg believes that this should not be done because they are two sides of the same coin. This means that managers must have management skills to effectively lead and leadership skills to effectively manage. Therefore, it is essential that managers understand the slight distinction between these concepts and how each can be accomplished at the most effective level while in practice.

This understanding can also be accomplished by implementing a specified training program that further addresses these aspects of managing and leading with practicing managers. Therefore, my overall purpose of this paper was to further address this topic by discussing what management and leadership are according to Mintzberg’s Model and how I would teach managers about these concepts through a specified training program.

Reference:

Mintzberg, H. (2009). Managing. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, Ca.