MaNaGeRs & LeAdErS

Having a management role is very different to a leadership role, both the job titles or even words on their own have a large difference between them.

Mangers tend to plan the ideas whereas leaders would think of strategic ideas on how to implement these managers’ ideas. Forrest and Tolltree, proposed in 1996 that the following are what the both managers and leader do:

•        Managers :

•        Plan control,

•        Co-ordinate,

•        Implement policy,

•        Achieve results.

•        Leaders:

•        Motivate,

•        Generate ideas,

•        Enthuse,

•        Inspire.        (Leadership PowerPoint)

The following PowerPoint explain what a leader is and what attributes are needed to become a leader I found this very helpful in regards to understanding what a leader is and what is required of a leader:

The following is a video that sums up what management is: 

So in other words managers are the individuals that take centre point, they delegate what needs to be done and where there is room for improvement they then assign these type tasks to leader who then encourage and implement motivating techniques to carry out the assigned tasks with the remainder of the workforce. Managers handle the planning, financing and appointing tasks that need to be done with appropriate deadlines, leaders then generate ideas on how to tackle the tasks at hand and motivate

I will now be going onto explaining and describing Blakes and Moutons managerial grid, which looks like this:

www.google.co.uk       

Blake and mouton managerial model

Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton proposed this behavioural leadership model in 1957, the model recognises leadership styles based upon concern for people and concern fro production. They split the model into five different leaders’ hip styles which are explained as the following:

‘(1,1) 'Impoverished' The leader exerts (and expects) minimal effort and has little concern for either staff satisfaction or work targets. This is a leader who is going through the motions is indifferent, non-committal, resigned and apathetic. S/he is doing just enough to keep their job
(1,9) 'Country Club' The leader is attentive to his/her people's needs and has developed satisfying relationships and work culture - but at the expense of achieving results. The leader is defined as agreeable, eager to help, non-confrontational, comforting and uncontroversial.
(5,5) 'Middle of the Road' (Politician)
This leader is a compromiser who wants to maintain the status quo and avoid any problems. Is aware of and wants a focus on productivity but not at the expense of the morale of his/her team.
(9,1) 'Authoritarian' The leader concentrates almost exclusively on achieving results. People are viewed as a commodity to be used to get the job done. Communication is de-emphasized and conflict is resolved by suppressing it. Leadership is controlling, demanding and over-powering.
(9,9) 'Team' The leader achieves high work performance through 'leading' his/her people to become dedicated to the organizational goals. There is a high degree of participation and teamwork, which satisfies the basic need of people to be involved and committed to their work. The leader may be characterized as open-minded, flexible and one who inspires involvement.
Cautionary note: This model could lead you to think there is one best style. Please avoid that mistake. Certain styles work extremely well in different circumstances. If your plane is crashing you'd want the captain to use a 9,1 style of leadership in that moment. At another time a different style of leadership may be more appropriate.’                      
http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com/blake-and-mouton.html
This model allows individuals to analyse and conclude on the performance of their manager or their leader; it also allows the weaker areas to be highlighted which can then be considered as room for improvement.

After having done extensive research into my workforce, Argos and the above motivational study by Blake and Mouton, I think that my manager lies between 1.9 and 9.9 as a strong cross, as the store manager listens to the staffs opinions and problems more than the CSM (Customer Service Manager), there is high levels of understanding and comforting on any topic with the store manager but when works need to be done there is high driving of motivating the staff and allowing space to breathe also along side actually achieving the tasks to the best of ability. My manager sets targets to each member of staff every 2 weeks and staff members are encouraged to meet their targets at minimum but generally encouraged to exceed their targets, in Argos cards, product care and number of units that are being sold.  Each member of staff is treated with respect and is valuable to the store and organisation.
Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft is a fantastic leader, he has carried out all the attributes of a leader to mark the stand that he currently holds in society today. The reason as to why bill gates is a god leader is because whenever he did make a mistake he always learnt from it rather than spending stupid amounts of time on rectifying the mistakes that have occurred. In 2008 an article was publishes which presented the main 7 lessons that bill gates has learnt and have made him a successful leader. The following is the 7 lessons article:
http://lifeofexcellence.com/lessons-from-billgates
Other sites that suggest Bill Gates as a great leader:
http://greatleaders.freewebspace.com/index_1.html
http://www.zdnet.com.au/is-bill-gates-a-great-leader-139260529.htm
 
After all the extensive research that I have carried out, and after collating all the research I have found that leaders and managers have to work very closely in order for managers to work to their best of ability and for leaders to carry out their job roles effectively. Managers plan, finance and co ordinate tasks to leader and then leader initiate ideas to execute the tasks at hand and then encourage and motivate other members of staff to work to their best of ability.