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Leadership vs Management

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Read the House and Aditya article on leadership research. This article reviews the history of the study of leadership and the prevailing theories of leadership that have gain empirical support. If you want you can supplement your reading with items from the Optional Reading list or other outside reading you find useful. Then, write a 4-6 pages critique in which you will relate to the following questions and tasks:

1. Define leadership and contrast leadership and management. What do you consider the 3 most important differences between leaders and managers? Substantiate your arguments with material from the House & Aditya article or other articles on the topic.
2. Summarize the conclusions of trait theories of leadership. Also try to identify the main differences between past and more recent trait theories.
3. Identify the central tenets and main limitations of behavioral theories.
4. Describe the main contribution of contingency theory of leadership.

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses the differences between leadership and management. Included in the solution is a discussion of trait theories, behavioral theories, and contingency theories of leadership.

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Below you will find my thoughts on the four questions you are to cover in your critique of the House & Aditya article. Along with the assigned article for your critique I have referenced Yukl (2006). The full citation for the Yukl text is referenced at the end of the solution. Yukl's (2006) book provides a summary of various leadership theories, ethical considerations, literature reviews, and various questions specific to the study of leadership in organizations. My response to your posting is based on your bid of five credits, which is a bid of roughly 50 minutes spent on your posting and the House and Aditya article is lengthy and covers an impressive amount of information. My goal is to provide you with an understanding of the topic and perspective on your assignment, not to provide you with a complete paper. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. In no way should you use any of my work as your own.

1. Define leadership and contrast leadership and management. What do you consider the 3 most important differences between leaders and managers? Substantiate your arguments with material from the House & Aditya article or other articles on the topic.

Leadership is an influence process, where an individual seeks to influence the actions and behaviors of individuals for a common goal (Yukl, 2006). Management is ground in authority and attempts direct people to do things a certain way (Yukl, 2006). There is an ongoing argument in the field of leadership regarding whether or not leaders and managers are two completely different beasts. In other words, you are either a leader or manager, but you can't be both. The significant difference between leaders and managers: managers are focused on getting tasks accomplished in the "right" way and leaders are concerned with more than just the task at hand - they want to do the right things. Leaders are concerned with influencing change within their organizations by motivating followers through an inspiring vision and firm adherence to commonly held values (Yukl, 2006).

Think about the difference between leadership and management through the lenses of the military. In the military you have commanders. Commanders are roughly equivalent to managers in the business world. Commanders have authority to direct the actions of their subordinates. They issue directives. Leaders inspire followers to attain a higher level of service. It is the exceptional individual that can inspire subordinates to strive to do more than just complete tasks or directives. Military, and business, leaders inspire dedication and comment to the organizational goals and the vision that they embody. Leadership is sincere and genuine, because followers will immediately be suspicious of any insincerity.

You can probably easily recall an example of a leader and an example of a manager. The manager told you when to come to work, what to do while you were at work, and how to do your work. The leader inspired you to more than just ...

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