Combination Of Leaders And Managers example essay topic

Leadership Training The great leaders have an inbred sense of style. They just know what situation requires what response. But not everyone has that inbred sense. I work for a Law Firm of comparable size for the county it is located in. My firm is listed as a Top 100 Firm in the Philadelphia area. We have 3 comparatively sized offices and 3 satellite offices.

They are many types of leaders in my Firm. 1. There are Shareholders. While a lawyer doesn't necessarily require leadership skills to be appointed as a shareholder, they are people who have worked hard and proven their talent and abilities to meet deadlines and win lawsuits. They have at least some leadership qualities to manage departments. 2.

There are Attorneys. These people bring the revenue in the door. Everything possible is done from every department to ensure their success. Everyone else's success hinges on their achievements. 3. There is an Executive Director.

She directs staff in all offices. She directs Attorney's with non-legal problems and can direct the shareholders toward a decision that she believes is good for the firm. She oversees the entire corporation. 4. There is the Administration Department. These are people who work behind the scenes paying expenses and costs, watching the financial bottom line.

They prepare payroll, perform all human resource management functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. They alert appropriate members of the firm to compromising positions we may find ourselves in, clients who are not paying legal fees and many other issues that need to be brought to the front for the firm to be an effective, mean, working machine. 5. There are Office Managers. They direct the staff when necessary and guide the workflow to ensure all filings, etc. are timely and no one staff member is overworked. The show leadership ability by their interaction with staff and their ability to mediate a problem or crisis.

6. There are Staff Members. These workers are the backbone of the organization. They organize their attorney's calendar making sure no one misses a deadline or a meeting. They take it upon themselves to do whatever is needed to get the job done. All of these people are leaders in their way.

Some are natural born leaders, others have limited ability. Everyone can benefit from Leadership Training. My firm runs smoothly, but one mistake and the pyramid can start to deteriorate. I feel that leadership training can benefit my entire firm. Participation in a training program is an opportunity to develop new skills. These newly required skills can increase everyone's effectiveness as leaders.

First you need to identify the issues facing you today that point to the need for managing people in a certain way. Second, you need to have a model for managing people that answers a need. You need to learn a variety of leadership styles and how to use them. This gives people the direction and support they need to perform their jobs well and increase satisfaction. Stephen Covey said "If there is no producer, great ideas and high resolves are not carried out. The work simply doesn't get done.

Where there is no manager, there is role conflict and ambiguity; everyone attempts to be a producer, working independently, with few established systems or procedures. And if there is no leader, there is lack of vision and direction. The roll of leader is most important to the organization. Without strategic leadership, people may dutifully climb the "ladder of success" but discover, upon reaching the top rung, that it is leaning against the wrong wall". (1991, p. 244) You need to build leadership skills in each of the four leadership styles- Directing, Coaching, Supporting, and Delegating. You will learn to provide direction, which is the foundation skill to which the skills of praising, building self-reliance, and delegating surface.

These skills will be used as people assume more responsibility for their own work direction. Troubleshooting skills for performance problems will be learned. Ability to communicate with people is key to success at your own job. Your effectiveness as a leader is based on your ability to influence others. You need to focus on interpersonal skills. These skills are: being specific, building self-esteem, and listening.

These skills will increase the quality of your interactions with people. John Maxwell said, "Team building should be as simple to grasp, retain, and put into practice as leadership". (pg XII, Introduction -The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork) He approaches teamwork from a leader's point of view, and says that this makes sense since leaders are the ones who bring teams together and lead them to victory. There is no single path to Leadership. Leaders vary both in terms of their individual talents and in terms of what their society and culture demand of them to be. A leader in times of peace is not the same as a leader in times of war. The dynamics of the group are essential in determining what kind of leader will be best suited for the job.

All effective and enduring leaders are probably charismatic in some measure and relatively intelligent, but beyond that generalities are hard to enumerate. Leaders vary as groups vary, and groups vary as human nature varies. There is also little disagreement among current thinkers about the need for widespread organizational transformation. Some focus on the need for cost containment, others on the need for an improved entrepreneurial spirit.

All emphasize the need for leaders who can take organizations through radical change successfully. Identifying those potentially successful leaders is not also easy, however. I read an article about leadership by Daniel Goleman. He indicated that effective leaders are alike in one way: they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence.

He contended that emotional intelligence is the prerequisite for leadership. (no direct source available) Francis Hesselbein wrote in "Leader to Leader", (No. 26 Fall 2002), that Crisis Management is not a discipline to be learned on the job, in the midst of the storm. It must be learned and practiced when there's not a cloud in the organizational sky."In the end, crisis management is a test of the quality and character of leaders as much as it is a test of their skill and expertise". First level managers may be promoted from within a company and bring little or no knowledge of management to their job. These individuals essentially "learn by doing" and are likely to make mistakes in management that could have been avoided if they had greater knowledge of management theory. In other cases, first level managers are brought into an organization directly from business school. These individuals are likely to have a strong theoretical knowledge of management, but lack practical experience, which makes for a strong manager.

First level managers who understand the various influences on themselves and on their subordinates are likely to be more effective in their jobs than managers who do not have such understanding. Psychologists have tried to isolate characteristics that make individuals good leaders. One characteristic is undeniably essential: extra version. Leadership cannot occur in a vacuum. The leader must interact effectively within a group. An extroverted individual is more likely to be a leader than an introverted individual.

Researchers have found evidence that certain people are predisposed to assume leadership roles based on personality traits. Among any group, a leader must emerge. The leader can be task-oriented or socially oriented. The task oriented leader focuses on the function that the group must perform. The socially oriented leader places more focus on the feelings and emotions of the individuals in the group. Traditionally, successful organizations have a combination of leaders and managers at each level.

Leaders provide the vision and the overall mission that the organization strives to achieve, while managers administrate the day-to-day activities that help achieve the vision. To sum up, Stephen Covey said it best in his quote" Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". (p. 313) Everyone can benefit from learning how to "fish the stream". (p. 313) There are many streams in life. They need to be approached in different leadership styles.

Access the style right for the situation and forge ahead. If one style fails, try another. Remember the dynamics of every group is different from the last group. Have an open mind and an understanding nature.

I know that you will find that your "team" is successful if you want to be successful.

Bibliography

Maxwell, John C. (2001) The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Covey, Stephen R. (1991) Principle-Centered Leadership.
New York: Summit Books. Goleman, Daniel. (1999) Emotional Intelligence.
New York: Bantam Books Hesselbein, Frances (2002) Crisis Management: A Leadership Imperative.
Leader to Leader Magazine, No. 26 Fall 2002.