Effective Management and Leadership. Key Functions of Leadership and Essay

Effective Management and Leadership. Key Functions of Leadership and Management, and Their Application - Essay Example Leadership can be described as a calling. For one to practice as an effective leader, they must tap into management skills. It is important to note that leadership and management are two different concepts that must go hand in hand for the successful operation of an organisation (Armstrong, 2012:15). Notably, effective management and leadership are important in guiding a particular team towards the attainment of its goals and objectives. Particularly, any leader requires effective management skills to direct any organisation efficiently. One must therefore adapt excellent managerial principles to be an efficient leader. Various Theories of Leadership and Management and Appreciate the Contemporary Issues Facing Leaders and Managers There are various theories that can be used to describe the issues of leadership and effective management. For one to be an effective leader they must understand how an efficient team works therefore it is important to look at John Adair’s action cen tred leadership framework. This model supports previous on motivation by Maslow (Janet, 2006:45). The model offers a well defined strategy for the effective management and leadership of any group, team or organisation. It is a basic leadership and management framework that can be easily adapted or applied to various business situations. Effective managers and leaders have command of the three areas stipulated by the model. These are task, individual and team. Effective managers and leaders are said to have command of the three areas and can balance them to improve productivity within a team, improve staff morale, develop teams and build and improve quality. According to Adair’s framework, there are three basic responsibilities for management. These include accomplishing a particular task, managing a team or a group and managing people. The framework stipulates the roles and duties of a manager in achieving a given task. Some of the important roles that have been identified in clude defining the activities to be achieved, coming up with a plan on how to attain these tasks, monitoring and evaluating performance of the group and reporting the progress to the relevant authorities. The framework spells out the responsibilities of a manager towards the group (Gray, 2010:34). These are to set up and communicate to the members of the group the culture, ethics and aims and objectives of the group. Finally, it spells out the responsibilities of managers for different team members. Managers should understand their team members in terms of skills, personality, strengths, weaknesses and goal. This model concludes that management and leadership are different. Furthermore, good leaders are not necessarily effective mangers but good leaders will have effective management skills. Secondly, there is the management theory of leadership that is commonly referred to as the transactional theory. This model pays close attention to the role of group performance, supervision and organisation. It is based on a system of rewards for outstanding performance and punishments for substandard performance. From the leadership perspective, the relationship between managers and employees is an exchange. Both parties have something to offer. Rules and regulations are important in leadership (Forssell, 2008:78). Employees are not required to be creative or come up with solutions to problems. This framework is application in entities where there are simple problems. This model is only effective in specific situations and it hinders managers and employees from realising their optimum potential. There is the contingency theory of leadership and management that states that no leadership or management style is suitable for all work environments. According to the model, there are various

NO TOPIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NO TOPIC - Essay Example There are many ways to success as demonstrated by "A Rice Sandwich" by Sandra Cisneros, where she demonstrates some of them with substantial backing in the process of writing the story. The first means of making it to the end without having to do much is blackmail, which is portrayed thoroughly with different character sin the story, which shows different types of blackmail and how they are used to the advantage of the characters using them. The first case is emotional blackmail, which appears to be the most effective means of making it to the top without investing oneself heavily in the issues that matter. This occurs through establishing an emotional connection and using it to one’s own advantage, where it is applied at the right time to exert the most pressure on the subject to give in to one’s demands. As such, the story depicts this with clarity, where the persona of the story uses tears to will the parents into submission, as there is no desire whatsoever to have lunch at school. The second use of tears as a form of blackmail is portrayed in the nuns’ cases, where tears are the only thing that come out of the persona in the story, when the nuns want the persona to engage in an activity (Cisneros). Consequently, emotional blackmail is an effective way to be successful by wooing people to avoid emotional pain or even sympathize with one’s emotional pain, where crying is now the means of blackmail against subjects in power. This also acts as a form of manipulation, where there are several incidences in the story showing how manipulation serves to achieve success. This leads to the second form of blackmail, which involves having damaging information on someone and using it to one’s advantage as is seen in the case of the nuns against the persona. The nuns ask the persona, where they live, where the persona points to dilapidated apartments, leading to shame and embarrassment, this proves the use of information to exert power against other people and to have one’s way with rebuttal or consequences. The consequences are borne by the person, on whom compromising information exists, leading to their full cooperation and even fulfillment of one’s wishes. The above two-mentioned form of blackmail are also mentioned in "The Circus" by William Saroyan, as means of getting being successful, where information is applied to manipulate individuals to achieve their potential. "The Circus" by William Saroyan portrays information as a way t success, where individuals use information as a motivating factor to work hard or harder in order to ensure that they are successful. Louis Dagget uses information as his path to success, where he takes to heart the words of his superiors in ensuring that he gets to be a lion tamer (Beckhoff 20). Consequently, information becomes as a means of success, where he now seeks to work in a circus irrespective of the position, but as part of the circus crew altogether; furth ermore, means of achieving success are through undermining one’s confidence, which is different from blackmail. Undermining confidence serves as a means of being successful by demeaning one’s sense of self-worth leading in a person giving up his or her standing or position. Undermining one’s confidence dwells on the weaknesses that one has and knows about himself or herself. As such, â€Å"A Rice Sandwich† portrays this way of achieving succ