Week 5 Leadership

Leadership is an often misunderstood subject. People tend to become confused with the difference between leadership and management and think they are the same thing. They are not.

Forrest and Tolltree (1996), thought that managers and leaders are not the same.

They said that managers Plan, control, co-ordinate, implement policy, achieve results. This seems to mean that the managers are there for performance, they make sure that the job is done and that their workers work efficiently to achieve that goal.

They also said that leaders Motivate, generate ideas, enthuse and inspire. This implyes that leaders help managers because they motivate and inspire the workforce to be efficient, which is what the managers whant. The managers can have the perfect plan and come up with the best strategies to produce high productivity but the inspiration from the leaders are what will actually make those workers use those plans to become productive.

Kotter (1990) had a similar theory

This theory also places the leaders as the people that manage to enspire the workforce but the managers are the people with the plans of what the newly inspired workforce should do.

From these two examples it seems that a leader needs to be present to get the workers to do what the the manager plans to have them do. Yet at the same time a manager must be present to tell the workers what to do.

After this Mullins (2007) had a theory about the relationship that each the manager and leader had with the employees.

According to this model it becomes apparent that the manager is very distant to his employees. He only cares about the performance but not how it will affect the workers unless it stops them doing as he wishes.

In this theory the leader has a relationship with his workers, this would explain how he inspires and motivates them. He changes them into better workers and motivates them by comunication so that they respect him.

The Blake and Mouton Managerial grid is used to identify the different manegerial styles used. It is used because it is easier to place a manager on the grid than placing them into a specific label of manager.

It takes into consideration the concern for people and also the concern for production. It identifies the priorities of the manager i.e. a social manager tends to prefer to make sure the workers are happy than to make sure they work efficiently unlike the the authoritative manager who makes sure the workers work efficiently rather than making sure that they are happy.

The aim for every manager should be to strive to become a team manager because they then have the right amount of concern for people and production ensuring that their workers are happy but also performing sufficient work.

A former manager of mine was a great manager because he was a very social manager most of the time making sure we were happy. He seemed like a friend to us not only our manager, but when work needed to be done and his workers didn't work he would show a different side which due to the respect gained from his social role was respected and obeyed. So he was a team manager since he made sure we were happy but also made sure that we worked.

Warren Buffett "a born leader"

In september of 2007 Warren Buffett was ranked as the third richest man behind Bill gates (richest man) and Carlos Slim (second richest man)by Forbes Magazine. He had an estimated net worth of $52 billion.

Warren Buffett is a very social leader meaning that he tends to talk alot to his employees, this establishes a very good relationship which may lead to them wanting to work harder for their manager. He uses his social relationship with his employees so that they use his strategies, plans and set goals. On the Blake and Mouton managerial grid he would be placed as a team manager due to his ability to influence his workers by socialising so that they are very productive, this satisfies a high level of concern for people and a high concern for productivity.

There is also alot of discussion that suggests that Warren Buffett tends to lean more toward the social side of the managerial grid but due to his huge success there must be an equel if not greater concern to productivity.

Overall I believe that to be a good leader you need to have a compromise of concern for people and concern for productivity. A team manager seems to be the best build of managers to produce a successful workplace relations atmosphere.

http://www.articlesbase.com/leadership-articles/superior-leader-warren-buffet-377648.html

Gardener, J. (2007). Cognitive Behavior Theory. Retrieved December 26, 2007, from http://www.cognitivebehavior.com/theory/index.html

Harris, D. (2006, June 26,). Warren Buffett's Unprecedented Generosity. Retrieved December 31, 2007, from http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2118501

Kore Kalibre (2006, March-April 2006). Warren Buffett’s Innovation: Staying away from Rapid Product Innovation. Retrieved December 26, 2007, from http://www.korekalibre.com/index.php?option=com_magazine&task=show_magazine_article&magazine_id=26

Legg Mason Value Trust (2006, October 26). Legg Mason Value Trust (LMVTX) Letter to Shareholders. Retrieved December 26, 2007, from http://markets.kiplinger.com/kiplinger?GUID=323448&Page=MediaViewer&Ticker=LMVTX