Text 1. Management and leadership

What is the relationship between management and leadership? Very often these two terms are considered to be synonymous. However, there is a difference between the two. Not every leader is a manager, but in order to be an effective manager one should be a leader. Leadership is more than just having the authority of a manage­ment or supervisory position. Authority gets you compliance.

Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organisation in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals, rather than simply boss people around.

There are many ways to look at leadership. “Getting others to follow”, “getting people to do things willingly” or “the use of authority in decision-making” are different interpretations of the same notion. Though, the most typical and actual definition would be “directing and influencing others to achieve common goals”. Saying so wouldn’t be a mistake as nowadays managerial styles are more informal and people are more likely to work in teams. Therefore, the most important task that is set before the leader is to create team spirit around and near him/her and to integrate individual and group goals.

Leadership has a very complex and changeable nature. Hence, there are several approaches to study and analyze leadership. The most common of them are traits theory, situational (or Great Events) theory and transformational leadership theory.

While studying leadership, psychologists and other researchers tried to find out if leaders possess any special skills and qualities which distinguish them from other people. For this purpose thousands of studies have been made and as a result some of the traits were listed, such as sociability, intelligence, judgment, popularity, vision, good appearance, decisiveness, courage, adaptability and some others. However, to their great disappointment, researchers had to admit that many of those traits also characterise people who are not leaders. One more question the qualities or traits approach deals with is whether leaders are born or made.

According to the situational theory a crisis or an important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person. Transforma­tional theory says that people can choose to become leaders and therefore learn leadership skills.

Researchers single out one more notion and that is the notion of a leadership style. A leadership style is defined as ‘the way in which the functions of leadership are carried out, the way in which the manager typically behaves towards members of the group’. There are many ways to describe a leadership style, such as dictatorial, bureaucratic, charismatic, consultative, participative etc. The styles of managerial leadership, though, are mainly classified as: authoritarian (or autocratic), democratic (or participative) and laissez-faire (or delegative).

Managers using authoritarian style tend to issue orders and tell their subordinates what to do. In this situation a manager is the only person who deals with decision making, determines policy, controls implementation of tasks and decides on rewards and punishment.

Nowadays many progressive companies tend to use a democratic style of leadership, which is characterised by greater interaction within the group, flexibility, empathy. Here the manager is more part of a team and members of the group share leadership functions with the manager. However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. This style is normally used when you have part of the information and your employees have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything – this is why you employ knowing and skilful employees.

Laissez-faire leadership means that the manager mainly sets objectives to the subordinates and allows them freedom of action, though he or she is always available if help is needed. This is used when employees are able to analyse the situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. A manager is a person who is able to get things done through others. All are different. What can be done in one situation will not always work in another. Therefore, you must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behaviour, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

Hence, you must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Task 25. Translate the sentences into English:

1. Управління – це вплив на підлеглих для забезпечення виконан­ня завдань та досягнення цілей організації. 2. Вивчаючи природу управління, психологи та інші вчені намагались довідатись, чи мають керівники (лідери) особливі вміння або якості, що відріз­няють їх від інших людей. 3. Демократичний стиль управління є швидше показником сили керівника, яку працівники неодмінно належно оцінять. 4. Більшість учених погоджуються з думкою, що вроджені таланти необхідно розвивати. 5. Успіх керівника більше залежить від його послідовників, ніж від нього самого. 6. Хороші лідери постійно вдосконалюються за допомогою самоосвіти, тренінгів та набуття досвіду. 7. Зверніть увагу на те, що керівники не зобов’язані знати все – для цього вони наймають на роботу кваліфікованих працівників. 8. Стиль невтручання можна застосовувати за умови, що працівники здатні до самостій­ного аналізу ситуації та виконання необхідних завдань. 9. Стиль управління – це спосіб втілення в життя управлінських функцій та манера спілкування менеджера із членами групи. 10. Для керівника важливим є усвідомлення того, ким він є, що він вміє та на що здатний. 11. Лідер не завжди займає посаду менеджера, але для того, щоб бути хорошим менеджером, необхідно бути лідером. 12. Згідно із ситуативною теорією, певні обставини мо­жуть посприяти виявленню якостей лідера у пересічної людини. 13. Демократичний стиль управління є проявом сили керівника та його довіри до підлеглих. 14. Управління складне та змінне за своєю суттю. 15. Хороший лідер знає, який із стилів управління найкраще застосувати за тих чи інших обставин.

Task 26. Make up a plan of the text “MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP” in writing.