Please consider someone that you know in a leadership role and discuss whether they are a manager
Question:
Please consider someone that you know in a leadership role and discuss whether they are a manager or leader based on the ideas highlighted by John Kotter in an article entitled What Leaders Really Do. Summary provided below. Please feel free to use a pseudonym (fictitious name).
According to J. Kotter:
"Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in today's business environment. Management is about coping with complexity. Its practices and procedures are largely a response to the emergence of large, complex organizations in the twentieth century. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change."
- Management involves planning and budgeting. Leadership involves setting direction.
- Management involves organizing and staffing. Leadership involves aligning people.
- Management provides control and solves problems. Leadership provides motivation.
If you like, please feel free to reverse the lens and consider if you are a leader or manager in your company. Based on this self-reflection, are there specific activities you might undertake to shift towards a leadership orientation?