The differences between management and leadership

 

management

There are a couple of important differences between management and leadership, between the practices of these two divisions, to be more precise. Management is usually is usually seen as someone’s capacity to deal with complex structures. The practices and procedures in management have come as a result of one of the most important aspects of the world which is oversized companies. Without good management a complex company risks of becoming chaotic. Great management can reduce this chaos and bring consistency in key points of a company’s development, turning into a perfectly functioning organization.

Management usually deals with complexity, whereas leadership deals with ways of implementing change. As opposed to management, leadership is more about change. The business environment is constantly subjected to rapid changes. Markets have become increasingly volatile in a world where keeping up with technology seems to be a constant race. Management does no longer keep a success formula in the top drawer of their fancy office, therefore companies need a strong and competent leader in order to keep up with these changes.

Austell, GA, October 26, 2009 -- As the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Outreach Center opens today FEMA Individual Assistance Housing Program Specialist speaks with a potential applicant.  FEMA and partners are here as result of September storms and flooding.  George Armstrong/FEMA
Austell, GA, October 26, 2009 — As the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Outreach Center opens today FEMA Individual Assistance Housing Program Specialist speaks with a potential applicant. FEMA and partners are here as result of September storms and flooding. George Armstrong/FEMA

For instance, in times of peace an army can survive and work with an effective manager and a good leader. However, come war and the army needs competent leaders in all aspects of combat. In a battle soldiers need to be led, not managed.

Both management and leadership imply making decisions regarding the company’s goals, building up teams and networks and in the end making sure that the work is actually being done. However, each of them does all of these things in a different manner.

Most of the times everything related to numbers, reports, graphics and so one is lies within the responsibility of the management whereas everything related to putting things in words is the responsibility of the leadership.

First of all, companies deal with complexity. Planning and budgeting helps with setting certain objectives and following concrete steps in order to reach those objectives as well as with allowing suitable resources so that the plans can be fulfilled. In contrast, a leader sets a direction, envisions the future of the company and builds strategies in order to change the approach so that it is accordingly to the set goals. Management develops the company’s ability to stick to this strategy by building a suitable organizational structure, delegating tasks and monitoring the evolution of their completion. A leader motivates his employees and gets them on board with the company’s goals.

After these steps are taken, management is responsible of monitoring, identifying problems and offering solutions, identifying possible deviations from the original plan, reorganizing, encouraging and penalizing according to plan. As for leadership, it becomes responsible of motivating and inspiring the employees based on their values and needs.

 

Most common managerial mistakes

encouragement

 

It’s said that when a manager finds a person who is better than them, they should definitely not be afraid to hire him or her, even on a higher salary. However, there are some common mistakes most managers make. Here are only a couple of them.

  1. Hiring under qualified candidates

Managers who hire under qualified personnel can definitely harm the company even without realizing it. A leader should never be afraid to hire someone who is better trained even than he is.

  1. Blaming others

When dealing with a failure some managers tend to follow the “not my fault” strategy and are willing to blame anyone else so that they don’t have to take any kind of responsibility. When employees have a leader who is constantly focusing on finding ways to get out of uncomfortable situations they might actually follow his example and start blaming other people for their failures. The major risk of this type of attitude is that certain mistakes are never recognized, therefore they are never analyzed and corrected.

leadership

  1. Not encouraging good ideas

Some managers chose to constantly criticize their employees and to never appreciate good ideas or even the persons who come up with them. This usually happens out of the fear that a better idea from a simple employee would be seen as a personal failure on their part. Another situation where this bad habit can negatively influence the wellbeing of an office is when the manager passes a great idea of on employee as his own.

  1. Being mean

It is highly important for a manager to support his good employees with positive feedback from time to time. Constant criticism will only lead that person to think that they are either bad at doing their job or that they efforts are not appreciated. Either way, the company will end up losing a valuable employee.

  1. Being greedy

There are certain managers who want to ensure their total control over resources, power and loyalty in a company. They want everybody to agree with them all the time. However, the company may soon see the downsides of not letting the employers be even a little bit independent and able to express their ideas freely.

  1. Not listening

When a manager doesn’t listen to the opinions of his employees, it means that he can never get to truly know the company he is running. Therefore he will make his decisions only based on intuition and past experiences, so some of them may prove to be ineffective.

  1. Being too severe

An environment where the manager makes sure that the employees fear him could never be productive. The best people in a company will surely leave as soon as they can find a suitable environment for their development. When employees start fearing for their job security, the survival instinct will automatically kick in. They will no longer work for the good of the company, but start working so that they don’t step on any toes.

 

5 Practical small business tips

 Due to financial instability and bad economic times, most of the small businesses suffer a lot. It’s an ongoing struggle to keep their small firms competitive at the same time make good sales along with creating profits. Actually these business men follow some conventional promoting models that work and which has been tested before, to continue their stand in the market. Other people prefer different marketing strategies that are unique. In simple words, you need to have strategy and a vision to succeed in small businesses. You need to understand these tips to help you in setting up a good business.

contract

  1. Listen to your clients needs

You make profit by accommodating clients’ requirements and yearnings. This is one basic rule as the business man has to understand their client’s desires and needs. It’s all about your customers rather than you. You cannot expand your business if customers do not approach you to use the services or products.

  1. Keep updating and know latest trends

This particular point is interlinked with the previous tip. Target audience tastes are continually evolving. People always prefer something new and hunt out places that offer new items and administrations. They regularly select that company that updates their services and design new products. In this manner, it’s imperative that you stay focused on adopting new technologies. Hence you have to do proper research on your target audience and you get this information from social networking websites.

employees

  1. Properly invest to gain profits

You need to viably serve your clients and do it in an expense productive way. Along these lines, you fulfill clients’ necessities and minimize uses. Take into account the labor costs as well. Have you employed too many people during non-peak hours? Besides, think about capital spending for machinery and equipment if you deliver and produce goods. Further to that, you should be aware of energy costs which are increasing. In short, energy saving methods has to be adopted to reduce the overall cost.

  1. Make your e-commerce model more effective

Most of the businesses are getting set up online. In the event that you have a site with an e-trade offering, consider it important. Clients need ultra-secure and consistent communication with your shopping entryway. Utilize the most recent and most astounding quality secure exchange innovation accessible. Furthermore the website user interface has to be smooth and it needs to look attractive.

  1. Spend more time on inventory

In case you’re a retailer, you need to get lots of products and have sufficient stock with you. A simple rule is to have your warehouse stocked with all necessary items to meet the customer demands. However we need to keep precise records and know the money flow in your business. You should have an account of all the items purchased from manufacture and delivered to the client. Inventory control is all about handling your working capital as this is a better way to learn the business efficiency. Further to that check your progress and ROI.