Leadership Vs Management - Part 2

In Part 1 - We covered some of the differences between Leadership and Management. We also talked about the core values that successful leaders share. Leaders are not born, leadership is a learned behavior or skill.

Lets look at some Leadership Myths people hold. These myths still run rampant in today's society

Some people are born leaders - This is not true, leadership is a learned behavior.

Leadership is rare skill - Once again Leadership can be learned.
Everyone is well-suited to lead - I think we have all met people who have not business leading others. There are people who are happy being followers.

Everyone wants to lead - Once again there are many people who are more than willing to be lead.

Rank + Title = Leadership Status - We have all met people who have a title or rank and have absolutely no business being in a leadership role.

Promotion to a leadership position validates leadership capacity - People get promoted all of the time who may be good managers, but have no idea how to lead. These people also believe because they have been hired on or promoted that they are leaders.

Jobholders are happiest when mediocrity is acceptable - Wow, I don't have a clue what to say about this one.

Avoiding tough choices is masterful leadership - Here is another one, I don't know what to say. Leaders show their true worth when things are tough.

Standing on the shoulders of others is the fast track to getting ahead - Unfortunately this is actually true way to many times. This is how non-leaders do get ahead.

Leadership exists only at the top of an organization - Leadership happens at all levels of an organization. This is what makes an organization ultimately successful.

Once occupying a leadership position, no further study or development is needed - This is one of the biggest falsehoods. As with everything that happens today, leadership changes, roles change, we must continue to learn, grow and practice new ways to better serve our people and our organizations.

Leadership is about controlling, directing, prodding, and manipulation - This one blows my mind. Leaders, lead, non-leaders control through negative reinforcement, prodding and especially manipulation.

These are all myths.. Leaders do not fit into these categories or do the things spelled out above.

So now we have talked about core values, myths, the differences, what's next.

Let's look at the 10 common leadership styles:

Autocratic Leadership - This is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where the leader has absolute power over his or her employees or team. Employees and team members have little opportunity for making suggestions. Most people resent being treated this way.

Bureaucratic Leadership - These leaders work "by the book", ensuring their staff follow procedures exactly. This is appropriate when working within serious safety risks.

Charismatic Leadership - These leaders can appear similar to a transformational leader, in the fact that they infuse huge amounts of enthusiasm into the team. A charismatic leader tends to believe more in themselves than their team. This can create a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader were to leave.

Democratic or Participative Leadership - Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other member of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This type of leadership will increase job satisfaction by being involved.

Laissez-faire Leadership - In French this means "leave it be" and is given to the type of leader who leaves his or her colleagues to get on with their work. Most often, laissez-faire leaders work with teams in which the individuals are very experienced and skilled self-starters.

People-Oriented Leadership or Relations-Orientated Leadership - This style of leader is the opposite of task-oriented leaders. This leader is totally focused on organizing, supporting and developing the people in the leader's team. This style tends to lead to good teamwork and creative collaboration. In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people oriented styles of leadership

Servant Leadership - This term describes the leader who isoften not formally recognized as such. This is someone at any level within the organization, leads by virtue of meeting the needs of his or her team. In many ways, servant leaders are demoncratic leaders, as the whole team tends to be involved in decision-making.

Task-Oriented Leadership - This leader is focused only on getting the job done, and can be very autocratic. They will actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organize and monitor. Task-Oriented leaders spare little thought for the well-being of their teams.

Transactional Leadership - These leaders start with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they take on the job: the "transaction" is (usually) that the organization pays the team members in return for their effort and compliance. This leader feels they have the right to "punish" the team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard.Team members can do little to imporve their job satisfaction.

Transformational Leadership - This leader is a true leader who inspires their people constantly with a shared vision of the future. These leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time communicating. They do not necessarily lead for the front, as they tend to delegate responsiblilty amongst their team.

In part 3 - we will talk about common leadership models.

Thank you once again and become a leader starting today. Pratice the skills and behaviors and you will become the leader you have always wanted to be sooner than you think possible.

Have a great day, here is to your success

Thom Swartwood