Developing Strategic Management and Leadership â€Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skill. Answer: Introduction Leadership and management are often misunderstood as similar processes, and it is because the managers and leaders do have certain characteristics and qualities in common. There are the matter of Management, which is ability to understand the necessary processes and requirements at the workplace and there are leaders who aspire and educate others to achieve better goals. In the following learning log I have enlisted my leanings about the definitions of Leadership and management and my perceptions about my own leadership style and the shortcomings that need to be addressed to make myself a better leader. I believe from my understanding that, the term management often relates to the process and system of coordinating and organising activities within a business and achieving certain goals/objectives. Management is often a necessary factor that is included within the company and it requires skills like innovative ideas, developing of organisational policies and planning as well as controlling and heading an organisation towards the unified goals. I have understood that Leadership is a special ability of an individual or their organisations to inspire and lead there individuals, teams as well as organisations(Huczynski, 2013). There is thus a predefined difference between leadership and management and these are not only because of the definitions but these differences are due to many other reasons. There is a difference between the concept of leadership and management when management focuses on the people who are provided the work of management and who are responsible for the creation and managing of the working environment and also providing results from the amount of manpower and resources provided to them. This is the toughest part of management in my opinion since it takes prediction powers, assessment and planning skills to create an effective plan that would ensure that the needed results are achieved within the lowest possible effort and cost(Dr. Sharma, 2013). The management is responsible to keep the clock ticking and the workers working to clear the deadline. The leader is someone who inspires and creates a sense of need within the workers to express themselves, and create innovative ideas to ful fil the current need. The leader has certain qualities and the manager has their own set of skills which even at some point might look similar but a leader has even more pressure on their hands to affect the minds and lives of many people(Bass, 2009). In a company a manager is provided the responsibility to create a better vision for the team and achieve the vision through the provided means. This means creating plans, crafting a roadmap and allotting work to each member in order to achieve that goal. It is not a single days work and requires planning and foresight to create and plan everything within the time. For example, in order to be ready to continue seeing development in times of financial crisis, it is required that managers take necessary measures to keep their operating costs minimum and reduce spending in unnecessary funds(Ivancevich, 2007). Process management is another important factor which a manager handles and also there are operational procedures which managers create and follow. The management ensures that the people in the team are focused and are performing their roles properly. The leader creates a sense of security and integrity about themselves from the people following the leaders. The leader provides the w orkers with a vision, a plan and a path for the future of the company. This creates motivation and inspiration for the team to work better and provide their best efforts for the company(Lopez, 2014). A leader accepts change and strives to take risks, creating different ways to work, crafting differently processes, and sometimes abolishing the current ones. The characteristics of a leader are to challenge the existing system and implement improvement or changed processes. A leader is also a great communicator, who can communicate with everyone. The best way a leader inspires and motivates their followers is to include them in the process of becoming part of the change. The members are provided information of the journey of the team or company, the changes that they have undertaken and the effects. The possible problems and all other information are also shared with the followers, increasing the peoples participation within the company and with the leader(Gnther, 2015). Identify a work colleague who you believe has an effective leadership style Mr Simons is a colleague in my office and I find him truly inspiring as a peer. The most important factor that I believe inspires me is his ability to lead the team to the goals that are set out by our project managers. In my understanding leadership is the ability to inspire and enable others to give their best and achieve the goals together. Leadership differs from management which essentially is the aspect of managing the operations of the group or team in this case. But leadership is the ability to make the people understand the potentiality of their own efforts and talents and encourage and aspire them to become more than they think they can. There are many other people who are capable enough to lead the team but many of them lack a few qualities like dedication and application(Men, 2015). While I find Mr Simons a better leader with the right mixes of leadership qualities. I believe that Mr Simons is a transformational leader and has the qualities that provide him with the skill s to be a transformational leader. Not only is Mr Simons always ready to help the team members, he is also focused on creating a better working environment for the people in the group by allowing the participation of the group members into the daily activities and includes everyones suggestions while deciding on any change in the team functions. These are the signs of good leadership, especially the qualities that link him to become a great transformational leader(Mullins, 2016). As a peer Mr Simons ensures that he never uses his position or power as a tool to discriminate others efforts but considers them his privileges. I have come across certain situations which have made me realise why his leadership has been effective in our team perspective: Mr Simons ensures that all people are treated the same way and ensures that the team members work together to bridge any gap of shortcomings of a particular member. Suggestions are taken from all members and responsibilities are distributed to others. I believe this leadership works since everyone feels that they are important in the team and have something to offer to make the teamwork complete. This sense of importance helps everyone provide their very best and the result are exceptional teamwork and good results, and in addition Mr Simons is looked up to for inspiration(Koech, 2012). I believe myself to be more of a team player than a solo player who can dictate and make things work. I believe myself to be better off handling a team full of people and engaging them in activity. This ensures that I am more of a Democratic leader with a democratic leadership style. I believe my style of leadership is different than Mr Simons, who clearly shows the characteristics of a transformational leader. I believe that I have the ability to inspire and make people understand their potentialities but I lack the persuasive powers present in Mr Simons to encourage and imprint on the people in my team(Furnham, 2002). I believe in the exchange of ideas and encourage the participation of everyone in making the decision but as my leadership style is more focused on providing workers a sense of worth, it often lacks the aspiration offered by a transformational leader like Mr Simons. I believe that I would need to become a more motivational person to help my followers to understand and get inspired by my efforts. I also believe that I lack the power to accept and create change. I am a person who believes in changing times and accepts change but to cause them and plan ahead is something I feel I have not yet become too much aware of. I believe that to become a good leader in the modern post-globalisation times, accepting change is a massively important factor which needs to be followed thoroughly(Harris, 2009). I believe Mr Simons is a leader who accepts change and is always anticipating change to occur any moment. Thus, I feel that to become a better leader and to help the people under me I must accept change and take more risks to ensure that there is a sense of innovation don change within the team/company. I also believe that since motivation is important aspect of leadership, inspiration is also important in being a leader. It is a known fact that able leaders make their subordinates aspire to become better and create motivation and dedication within the followers. It is thus imperative f or me to learn and improve my skills to motivate and inspire. After analysing the various aspects of my Own Leadership style I believe that I also have my own leadership qualities which create my own leadership techniques. I believe myself to have various qualities of a Democratic Leadership, I find myself as a team player, as I have always been known to perform better in a team surrounding than single. I believe in team work and have seen that there have been many benefits of using teamwork as the base of my performances. I believe that with different minds at work, people work better and provide better results. Sharing ideas and processes with peers and the team leaders provides a better setup for everyone to find the best possible solutions. People are able to participate and provide their viewpoints and offer what they believe to be the best solution. Ultimately as the leader all possible solutions are accepted and the one with the best results are and has the best solutions(Kumar, 2003). The first quality I feel that I should work on to develop is the power to motivate others. Motivation is an important part of how leaders inspire and influence their followers. I believe that although I find myself as a fluent talker and easy to associate with people I have to become more accustomed to motivating my peers and the people under my lead to perform and work better. Comparing my leadership with Mr Simons I have understood that in case of a transformational leader, motivation plays an important part. Inspiring the followers is the main aspect of how transformational leadership encourages and gathers support from the workers. This is one of the most important aspects that I feel is to be improved from my perspective(Friedman, 2013). The second matter I believe is that I need to include intellectual stimulation for my team members and followers who are to be inspired and challenged to perform better. Innovation should be provided as the ultimate goal for the followers and people with the skills should be encouraged to think out of the box. I believe that understanding and acknowledging the problems of the team members and followers would make the followers feel attachment to their leader. When a leader is considerate, it creates a personal bonding with the leader(Johansen, 2009). As a leader, I could make it a point to communicate with each of the member in my team every few days to make sure that they understand that I am dedicated towards keeping communication with them. Also I believe that intellectually stimulating the members by challenging them in workplace would certainly increase their own evaluation of themselves, not by pressure but a challenge that workers would benefit from. A transformational leader is known to help the followers increase their skill set and I believe I should be able to follow this path. I believe these skills I need to further developed in my opinion and I should challenge myself to achieve the necessary changes within my leadership style. References Bass, B., 2009. From transactional to transformational leadership: learning to share the vision, s.l.: Organizational Dynamics. Dr. Sharma, M. K., 2013. Leadership Management: Principles, Models and Theories. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(3), pp. 309-318 . Friedman, S. D., 2013. Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life. s.l.:Harvard Business Press. Furnham, A., 2002. Managers as change agents. Journal of Change Management, 3(8), pp. 29-30. Gnther, K., 2015. Key Factors for Successful Implementation. Journal of Applied Leadership and Management, 5(8), pp. 1-6. Harris, L., 2009. Developing a Market Oriented Culture: A Critical Evaluation. Journal of Management Studies, 3(8), pp. 1-30. Huczynski, A. A. B. D., 2013. Organisational Behaviour. s.l.:Pearson: Harlow. Ivancevich, J., 2007. Organizational Behavior and Management, New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Johansen, R., 2009. Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World. s.l.:Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Koech, P. M., 2012. The Effect of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance at State Corporations in Kenya. International Journal of Business and Commerce, Volume 2, pp. 1-12. Kumar, N., 2003. Conducting inter-organizational research using key informants. Academy of Management Journal, 5(8), pp. 63-79. Lopez, R., 2014. The Relationship between Leadership and Management: Instructional Approaches and its Connections to Organizational Growth. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 6(1), pp. 1-15. Men, L. R., 2015. Measuring the Impact of Leadership Style and Employee Empowerment on Perceived Organizational Reputation, s.l.: Institute for Public Relations. Mullins, L., 2016. Management Organisational Behaviour. s.l.:Pearson: Harlow.