The Group Leadership Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Group Leadership - Term Paper Example Managers are task oriented while leaders are visionary. In order to analyze differences and similarities between leadership and management, it is important to comprehend them differently (Rickett, ca.uky.edu). Leadership Leaders are those who influence a group of individuals with the purpose of achieving a goal. So, it can be said that leadership involves influence and goal attainment. Some of the most common qualities found in leaders include walking the talk i.e. consistency between words and actions, long term focus, creativity, visionary, self esteem, confidence, and others (Rickett, ca.uky.edu). Management Managers are different from leaders in terms of the fact that the responsibility of managers is to exercise administrative and supervisory directions. The responsibilities of managers are more task-oriented as compared to the responsibilities of leaders. In order to exercise effective management skills, managers need technical, human, and conceptual skills. Technical skills in volve knowledge and proficiency of managers to carry out various tasks. Technical skills of managers include analytical skills as well as the abilities to use specialized tools and techniques. Managers should be adept at human skills. Human skills involve abilities of managers to work with people. ... Both management and leadership require diverse skills and competencies. Managers bring order and consistency in organizations while leaders bring change and innovation. The responsibilities of managers include planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, controlling and problem solving. Planning and budgeting involves establishing agendas, setting timetables, and allocating resources. Organizing and staffing involves establishing rules and procedures. Controlling and problem solving involves generating creative solutions and developing incentives (Rickett, ca.uky.edu). Leadership Traits Studies conducted on leadership have found that individual characteristics of leaders differ from leaders to leaders. In order to find individual characteristics, a large number of items have been examined including gender, appearance, energy, height, and other psychological traits. A gamut of psychological traits have also been examined including intelligence, need for achievement, authoritariani sm, and need for power. According to researchers, there are only a few characteristics associated with leadership. Researchers therefore agreed that search for universal traits of leadership are futile. Since the early 1980s, a substantial progress in the development of leadership traits has been made. There are several universal traits which have been introduced in the last decade. In order to guide the research for leadership traits, there were little personality theories. Initially, very little information related to leadership traits was available. Trait studies conducted on leadership were solely based on studies on adolescents, lower level managers, and supervisors rather than on leaders on significant position. The revival of the leadership theory started