A Leader And A Manager

respond to at least two classmates or instructor feedback. 

 

Peer Response 1

 

Explain the difference between a leader and a manager.

Leaders and managers have different focuses. Leaders are more people-focused and vision-focused. Mangers are more focused on the operational side of things and tend to focus on completing day-to-day tasks. Solomon et al. (2016) also mentions that the difference between leadership and management is “how they manage to convey their ideas to people they work with” (p. 146). Leaders tend to influence, motivate, and empower others to work together and see the bigger picture and how they make a difference with their work. Managers take on an authoritarian style where they make all the decisions and give orders and instructions. They help team members understand what is expected of them.

Can a leader be a good manager, and can a manager be a good leader?

Yes, as a leader, you can be a good manager, and as a manager, you can be a good leader. But I also believe that not all managers will have good leadership skills, and not all leaders will have good management skills. Having both of these qualities will help a leader or manager make a more powerful impact on their team. If managers can lead and influence their team members, they can meet their end goal without resistance. If leaders can manage, they can run a team smoothly.

Characterize the traits that are important in being a good leader

To become a good leader, one needs to have excellent communication skills, compassion, integrity, trust, adaptability, accountability, creativity, innovation, and courage. There are many more traits, but these are just some that stood out to me or what I would look for in a leader. With these traits, the leader can successfully make progress in everything that they do.

What characteristics of leaders and managers do you feel are your personal strengths and weaknesses?

I feel that my strengths as a leader are my ability to adapt to any situation, my resilience, and my integrity. I adapt quickly to any situation that arises, and I tend to work with what I got. I like challenges and am not afraid to jump into a problem unfamiliar to me. As I tell myself, with every scary situation I run into or a different situation I am not used to, it is a learning opportunity that will benefit me. And last but not least, I like to own up to my own mistakes. If I make a mistake, I will take accountability for it and learn from it to not make the same mistake again. I also see this as an opportunity to learn and better myself. I think that my weaknesses are communication and delegation, and sometimes confidence. Communication is constantly learning and work in progress, and there are ways that I could always do this better. Sometimes it is hard to communicate exactly what I want because it is sometimes easier to show it. Delegation is a significant weakness for me because it is hard to transition into letting others take responsibility at times when the responsibility started in the first place to be mine. I also feel that sometimes I do not have enough confidence in myself. In every situation, you need to be confident but sometimes I tend to second guess myself.

Reference:

Solomon, I. G., Costea, C., & Nita, A. M. (2016). LEADERSHIP VERSUS MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 11(1), 143-151. https://prx-herzing.lirn.net/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/leadership-versus-management-public-organizations/docview/1782998705/se-2?accountid=167104

 

 

Peer Response 2

several differences that make them unique.  By definition a leader is someone who leads a group of people.  A manger is someone who oversees a group of people and makes sure they are maintaining their responsibilities and completing the tasks at hand. “There are arguments about if these two terms are actually the same or different.  What most research has come to find is that a manager is more about your position, and leadership is more about who you are” (Western Governors University, 2020). It’s truly difficult to definite them separately because they are very similar in nature. Managers are typically responsible for running everyday operations and responsibilities. “Managers are generally responsible for the day-to-day operations of an operation.  They have people who report to them, they oversee their work, and help make all of the projects run smoothly.  They manage systems confidently and help their workers feel understood and meaningful to the organization” (Western Governors University, 2020). Leaders have a larger goal that is more long-term that short term. “Leadership is all about building a vision for people to follow.  They inspire and direct with authority and intelligence.  They help people feel confident and excited to follow their lead” (Western Governors University, 2020).

A leader can absolute be a good manager, and a manager absolutely has the potential to be a good leader.  In the ideal world and situation, I think these are the qualities you would like to see in both a leader and a manager.  Unfortunately, this is not the case in many situations.  You either see one or the other, or you have leaders and managers who do not possess positive qualities to lead a group of people. “Leadership and management may seem to be different, but in reality they share many qualities.  If a manager is a good leader, their workers will be willing to follow their lead, they will trust them, and they will have a more positive work experience” (Western Governors University, 2020).

A good leader should have many positive traits; one that uplifts the people in which they are leading. The traits that good leaders have are motivating, creative, sets a good tone, has long term goals and inspiring.  They should seek to empower those under their care knowing that having a positive environment to work has positive outcomes for all. It is often difficult to adapt to change, but a good leader is open to criticism and willing to adapt and change based on positive outcomes.

As many positive qualities that I have, I equally have negative ones.  I believe that I have a fantastic ability to community with others.  I am open to hearing all sides of the story and communicate my needs in a calm and professional matter without putting my emotion into it.  This is something that many people struggle with.  I am good at delegating tasks to those who struggle to stay on track.  I can often see the little things that need to be completed that other people can easily look over.  I am detail oriented and a problem solver in any situation that I am put in.  A weakness of mine is finding it difficult to be creative. At first glance I don’t find myself to be a creative thinker.  At work I have a very type A personality so when I make a plan and it doesn’t go accordingly it sort of throws me off base.  That can be stressful for me in several ways. I will either stay late in order to complete the tasks that I wanted to complete, or I will allow it to roll over into the next days work.  Neither which are healthy ways to cope.

 

Reference:

Western Governors University. (2020, May 25). Leader vs Manager: What’s the Difference? Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/leader-vs-manager-difference2005.html#close.