Fall 2020 | Page 14
Leadership versus Management: There is a Difference by Christine C. Thomas, Ph.D.
Companies in the United States and around the world are challenged with hiring leaders and managers with a common purpose of optimal performance to achieve organizational goals. The companies are housed with leaders and managers but the real question is, do we understand the function and roles to be effective. The structure of every organization is governed by individuals who are in leadership and management positions. What is commonly misconstrued is the understanding and roles of these groups. Leadership and management are terms commonly used interchangeably but vary considerably in their approach aimed towards improving an organization. This article was written to empower women with standing firm in their management roles and those aspiring these responsibilities. I have organized this read with the following: the evolution of leadership and management to include a brief historical overview, followed by a definition of terms, identification of the function and role of each, outline of similarities and differences of why they are important in the workplace, the role of leadership and management styles and will conclude with my personal analysis and synthesis.
three themes that framed leadership. They include the continuance of group theory, leadership as a relationship that develops shared goals, and effectiveness to lead a group. During the 1970s there was an emergence of an organizational behavior approach to leadership to realize group or organizational goals.
Evolution of Leadership and Management Over the past 100 years, leadership has evolved in its meaning in the United States and around the world due to “growing global influences and generational differences” (Northouse, p. 2, 2016). Leadership is one of the oldest worries, serving as both a hot topic and an important driver of innovation for thousands of years (Kotterman, 2006). According to Northouse (2016) the evolution of leadership has transformed from the 1900s to the 21st Century. Beginning in 1900 to 1929, the meaning was equated to one who has the ability to impress those who lead by inducing submission, respect, allegiance, and teamwork. By 1940, the leadership role was transformed with a group approach with leadership by coercion. In the 1950s, leadership evolved with a group focus and
Research on leadership was conducted in the 1980s to bring a visible awareness in the academy, business and industry and to the public. Themes that resulted from the research to define leadership includes some of the similarities of prior years, such as: “do as the leader wishes” (p.4) in order to get something accomplished by the followers; influence evolved to distinguish between leadership and management; leadership traits were brought back to the forefront; and leadership as a transformational process to include motivation and morality of leaders and followers (Northouse, 2016). Today, the meaning of leadership has advanced to mean “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a com-
