Topic > Management Vs Leadership - 1464

Leadership can be defined as the ability to direct the operations, activities, or performance of others. A leader is an individual who leads, guides, or inspires others. A leader is someone who will take care of a group or make themselves heard among others. However, to be a leader, he must not only have the ability to take charge or express his own voice, but he must also have the respect of others in the group, team or organization. With leadership, perception is the better part of reality: being a good leader can be difficult if followers do not perceive the individual as such (Altar 2006). A leader must know what his followers think. Top leaders will say that leadership skill is the most important personal attribute you need to be successful. Leadership has many facets under its name. Some of the most important leadership skills are communication and relationship building. One characteristic that is not characteristic of a good leader is dominance. When a leader tries to dictate, he will lose the respect of others. An imposing leadership style is not recommended, but it is preferable to have one that can win hearts and minds. Nowadays, many organizations put their employees through various leadership development programs. “Companies with effective processes for assessing individual leadership development needs were much more likely to experience increases in sales and net income between 2003 and 2004” (Switzerland 2006). Leadership has become such a critical aspect for organizations that universities are starting to open leadership schools. Today, people are offered leadership as a major in some colleges and universities. Management can be defined as the ability to manage or direct with a certain degree of skill, to comply and remain compliant, to deal with care and to exercise executive, administrative and supervisory management of an enterprise (Kinnes 2004). Effective business skills are key to providing the best quality service to people. Typically, businesses focus on profit, market share, or growth, but world-class management skills are essential to maintaining productivity. Management skills are not easy to identify, as they are difficult to learn and quantify. Most managers come from within an organization, as it is imperative to send employees to management skills courses. Leadership and management have many similarities. In most cases, leaders hold some sort of management position within the company. Most executives evaluate a manager's success by numbers.