Concepts of leadership and management

In most cases, management and leadership have been confused to have the same meaning. However, the two concepts are completely distinct and vary in different ways. For instance, management refers to a process of getting things done through the efforts of other people. It is a broad discipline that has four major functions that includes; planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling (Stacey, 2012). Management is mainly concerned with achieving results after following certain procedures. It is more of a formality and gives rise to the position of a manager.

Managers are very important persons in the running of an organization. This is because they always act on behalf of the entrepreneurs/ leaders o achieve the desired objectives of the organization. Apart from dealing with the internal affairs of the organization, management should also embrace the welfare of other stakeholders such as other businesses, customers and general public.

Leadership on the other hand is a major function of management process. It is a process through which a leader influences others to accomplish a certain common goal. It involves giving direction to the subordinate on the best way through which the organizational objectives can be realized. It is important to understand that leaders are born and not made. Good leadership is achieved through continuous and non-ending process of education, self study, training and experience. A combination of skills, knowledge and desirable traits are key to good leadership. A leader may not have a formal title but mostly relies on personal traits and styles to influence the behavior of others. A good leader is expected to have supervisory ability, intelligence, creativity, decisiveness and self belief just to mention but a few. While everybody can become a manager, not every person can make a good leader.

Key management and leadership theories

Both management and leadership concepts are defined through different theories. The theories are concerned with providing distinction between the leaders and followers within the organization and traits that define them.  For instance, several leadership theories have been put forward to explain the various kinds of leadership styles as applied in different organizations. The most common leadership theories includes; trait theory, situational theory, behavioral theory, functional theory and participative theory just to mention but a few.

To start with, trait theory just like the Great Man theory asserts that people inherit certain qualities and characteristics that makes them better suited to make better leadership. The theory was first put forward by Ronald Heifetz and often identifies particular personality or characteristics as shared by leaders. Different traits and behavioral characteristics such as self confidence, courage, decisiveness and cognitive ability among others are critical to good leadership (Stacey, 2012).

Situational theory is another leadership theory that provides alternative to the trait theory. According to Herbert Spencer, times produce person and not the other way (Stacey, 2012). It is for this reason that the proponents of this theory argue that different situations calls for different characteristics. Under this theory, leaders are expected to apply different styles of leadership depending on the situation at hand.

Functional leadership theory was proposed by Hackman & Walton is a very important theory that describes a leader’s behavior and the contribution towards the organizational success. The theory suggests that leaders should offer what is best for the welfare of the organization. It is an inclusive kind of leadership that enhances cohesion and effective relationship at the work place (Stacey, 2012).

Another equally important leadership theory is the behavior theory. The theory is based on the belief that good leaders are made but no born (Stacey, 2012). Unlike the Great Man Theories, this leadership theory is more concerned with actions of the leaders rather than their mental or internal states. The theory asserts that people can learn leadership through practice and teaching. Others include participative and cognitive theories of leadership where the former suggests that a good leadership style is the one that put into account the input of others (Stacey, 2012).

Management is also known to be explained by different theories. One of the most common management theories is the contingency theory. The proponents of this theory argue that managers make decisions based on the situations at hand rather than through a common rule. It asserts that managers should take appropriate action that suits the current situation at hand.

Theory X and theory Y forms another important management theory. This theory argues that a manager tends to be influenced by the beliefs and attitudes of the workers. Theory X management style believes that workers naturally need incentives in order to work. On the other hand theory Y management style believes that workers are naturally driven and takes responsibility. Theory X and theory Y gives rise to the authoritarian and participative styles of leadership. Other important management theories include systems theory and chaos theory that determine the different leadership and management styles (Stacey, 2012).

Assessment of the challenges of leadership and management practices

Leadership and management practices are often with numerous of challenges that make the practice difficult for managers and leaders in course of delivering to the organization. Managers and leaders must first identify these challenges in order to have better ways of dealing with them. For instance the different cultures in an organization set up have been a major challenge in leadership and management practice. The organizations are made up of people from different ages, gender and culture and making them to read from the same script is a tall order.

The current leadership and management practices are also faced with technological change challenges. For instance, latest development in the ICT sector is a major challenge since it has greatly altered communication within an organization set up. Lack of proper funding to remain in touch with these developments has also been a critical challenge for many practitioners within leadership and management (Stacey, 2012). Lack of leadership and management ethics as well as bureaucracy in decision making have also been a major challenge to the leaders and managers. After identifying such challenges, it is the obligation of leaders to come up with resolutions to solve the menace.

Analysis of the key motivational theories and how they influence organizational success

Motivation for the employees is a very important aspect for the success of any organization. An organization where motivation of workers is not taken seriously is likely not to achieve its goals.  As a result of the great value placed on employees’ motivation, several motivation theories have been put across to explain the different ways through which employees can be motivated to increase productivity. The most common motivation theories are outlined by McGregor, Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland. All these great scholars explain the need for motivation and how it can be achieved in organizational set up (Stacey, 2012). Lack of motivation in an organization can result to reduced efforts and lack of commitment in the short run. However, long term effects could be detrimental to the organization as it leads to increased absenteeism, low productivity, industrial disputes, low organizational profits and in extreme cases can lead to overall collapsing of the organization.

Maslow’s theory of motivation is based on hierarchy of needs. He argued that human beings are always motivated by a series of unsatisfied needs where one level of needs should be satisfied before others until they reach self actualization stage. Maslow’s advice to leaders and managers is to ensure that adequate motivation is guaranteed to workers in every workplace. The motivation should be sequential starting with the fundamentals up to self fulfillment level as illustrated by the diagram below:

Another motivational theory was developed by Herzberg where he argued that satisfaction and dissatisfaction at any work place arise from different factors. He argued that those factors that are responsible for dissatisfaction are not the same which can lead to satisfaction and thus should be avoided to stipulate satisfaction. He advocated that leaders and managers should be involved in job satisfiers rather than job dissatisfiers. Some of job satisfiers are giving recognition to employees, good working conditions and better remuneration. The opposite of this can lead to low motivation and should be discouraged at all costs. In essence, Herzberg theory claims that workers should be provided with the best working environment to increase motivation.

Evaluation of the role of leadership and management in employee motivation

In order to have a successful leadership and management practice in an organization, it is always important to understand what satisfies the workers in the organization. Most organizations have come in terms that better pays and good working environment do not entail full motivation. There are always complaints from employees that the level of motivation has not reached the saturation point. It is for this reason that the management and leadership of an organization must always strive to ensure that workers motivation is at the highest levels possible (Stacey, 2012).

The management and leadership of any organization must understand that failure to properly implement its motivational programmes can be detrimental to the overall success of the firm. It is a fundamental practice and its failure can be very expensive to the organization. Lack of motivation can lead to absenteeism, increased industrial disputes, low productivity and high rate of staff turnover.  All these factors will result in decreased profits since much of the income will be spent in legal battles, recruitment and training of new staff. Leaders should understand that it is less expensive to keep employees happy than recruiting new staff to replace the non-motivated employees. Motivated workers will be of service to the organization for a long period as compared to the non motivated workers.   It is therefore important for leaders and managers to ensure that staffs are motivated all the time.

In cases where workers are doing well towards the realization of the organizational goal, it is important for the leadership and management of the organization to recognize their efforts and cherish them regularly. Rewards, gifts, promotion or words of encouragement to the staff can motivate employees substantially (Stacey, 2012).It also makes them feel part of the organizations success. Good leadership and management practices also enhance socializing between the management and the employees in an organization.

Leadership can influence the motivation of workers if they too lead by example. For instance, if managers and leaders get to work on time, this will act as enough motivation for the workers to get early. In essence, leaders and managers should act in the way they ant they juniors to act. Management and leadership should also invest wisely on employees in terms of training and capacity building in order to get the desired results within an organization. Improved communication within the organization is also critical to the overall motivation of the workers. There should no communication barriers between the management and the followers (Stacey, 2012).

Analysis of the contribution of performance management techniques as organizational processes

In most cases, managers use management techniques to test employees working status and should be carried out regularly. This should be carried out by examining individual employee performance and the overall effectiveness of the entire work force within the organization.

In order to realize optimum production from the organizations work force, it is the responsibility of management to put the right people in the jobs which they are fully conversant. Regular appraisals by managers are very essential to track employees’ performance and make suggestions where capacity building and extensive training is recommended. It is also after these appraisals appropriate reshuffles can be made (Stacey, 2012).

Compensation package forms another very important performance management technique.  This can be very important in enhancing employees’ morale especially when it is carried out fairly. It goes without saying that a happy worker is a hard worker and consequently optimum productivity. This can also be extended through offering incentives (Stacey, 2012).

Analysis of the development of teams

In most cases, organizations strive to improve their productivity and motivation of people in an organization by working in teams. The process by which a planned and a systematic process, that is designed to improve the efforts of the people working together towards achieving a common goal is referred to as team development. However, it is important to have a clear distinction between a group and a team (Stacey, 2012).While a team refers to an internally organized set of people with specific roles towards a certain objective, a group on the other hand refers to a collection of people with something in common. In essence, there is great difference between a team and a group.

For a team to be successful, every team player must be aware of the roles assigned to them and the overall team objective. The management and leadership of the organization should embrace team spirit in their organizations to achieve the organizations goals. After delegation of duties and the time frame within which such tasks will be completed, it is also important to have frequent appraisal programs to assess the developments made in each team. Working as group is concerned with individual accountability which is exactly opposite of the team work where overall accountability is of great importance. Team development must ensure that organizations performance can be improved if the team members are able to work effectively and with high degree of coherent (Stacey, 2012).

Effective team development must also enable members to develop trust, openness, high levels of communication and mutual understanding among the different team players. This will help the team players to work in unison towards realization of the organizational goals. Increased communication will help harmonize the overall organizations objectives. It also plays a vital role in enhancing proper decision making, increased commitment among the members as well as minimized domination by team leaders. A good team development must also be able to put in place a conflict resolution mechanisms and action plan to monitor the progress of the team work.

Analysis of the roles and models of team leadership

The sole obligation of a team leader is to ensure that the members of the team work towards realization of the team objective. Team leader is expected to organize joint projects and the different forms of exchange between members of the team. The team leader is expected to ensure that there is low risk among the different members within the team. In order for this to be effectively achieved, team leader is expected to work together or exchange roles with other members of the team (Stacey, 2012). The team spirit can be increased through developed communication and constant swapping of team members. The swapping is important to ensure that each team member get the role in which they are best suited to play.

Team leadership is also expected to ensure that every single activity by the team members is carried out according to plan. It is the obligation of team leadership to ensure that team members have enjoyed their roles and are learning new things in the course of their duties. The team leadership is also expected to carry out continuous assessment on how far team objectives have been realized. This will help ensure that all team members are conversant and happy with their roles towards realization of the team objectives.

Evaluation of the role and usefulness of teams within the organization

It is a dream of every team leader to assemble of a team that is effective and efficient. Effective and efficient teams are the one that fulfils the organization objectives as planned. If the team leader is capable of assembling and motivating team players to work harder in achieving organizational goals, there will be increased sense of pride thus increasing job satisfaction among the organizations employees. It is for this reason that team leaders should be encouraged to strive to ensure that their team members are motivated to work hard this increasing overall productivity within the organization.

In most cases, having different teams within an organization can lead to betterment of the organizations general welfare. This is because different teams will be competitive with each of the team striving to work towards the betterment of the organization. Use of teams can be instrumental to organizational success sense the different members can feel as part of the organizations success which motivates them to work harder.

The introduction of different units or teams in different organization has contributed immensely for the achievement of our goals and objectives. In term of motivation, employees in team situations are more satisfied and motivated than those working under more traditional regimes and have a positive influence on employee commitment and identification. The team work also serves to gain competitive advantage over other organizations (Stacey, 2012).

References

Stacey, R. D. (2012). Tools and techniques of leadership and management: meeting the challenge of complexity. London: Routledge.

 
Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?