The Leadership Role in Management Research Paper

The Leadership Role in Management - Research Paper Example Managers are those individuals who are in charge of the company. Their responsibility is to be the individual that monitors the progress of people who work under them and who take care of payroll and budgeting matters. Leaders are those individuals who are hired into the company to make change (57). Leaders are the change agents who are hired to see an organizations big picture. "Management is a function that must be exercised in any business, leadership is a relationship between leader and led that can energize an organization" (57). Another way of comparing leaders and managers is portrayed in this chart: A great leader has certain qualities that are apparent and that managers may not have available to them. Marcus Buckingham and Coffman suggest that focus is what makes a difference between the manager and the leader. The managers focus is on the inside of the company and how each part of the company works together. A good manager will notice the differences in style, goals and needs of their individual employers. Leaders look at outward and they are most concerned with the competition, the big picture for the company, broader patterns and see where and when they can get the advantage over their competition (63). The challenge for most companies is that they cannot understand the differences in these roles so they expect managers to be leaders and leaders to be managers. Instead, they need both types of people to move their companies forward. Marcus Buckingham states that "leadership requires certain natural talents" (33). He said that because of this a manager cannot be a leader unless they have these natural talents. When a manager is a leader the company must understand their intense focus. There are hundreds of websites that will tell the qualities that make great leaders. The challenge is that everyone has a different idea as to what qualities an individual should have to lead their team. Today it is imperative to know