To be a great leader one must first be a great manager, DISCUSS Essay

To be a great leader one must first be a great manager, DISCUSS - Essay Example Even if a person objects to authoritarian leadership and feels compelled to commit him/herself to just be a good leader, he/she still can face a number of hurdles while running his/her organization if all the managerial knowledge and skills are not smartly engineered first. Leading and management are seen as complementary and related by Andersen (2012). Though leadership and management are distinct, they still should be balanced. The theme of this essay is that one cannot become a great leader without becoming a great manager first who has shrewd and insightful skills about handling people and keeping them sane even amidst the worst of circumstances possible. The essay will discuss how learning to maintain a sound reputation as a manager could be important for a leader and why a leader less concerned about developing smart managerial strategies and good relations with employees can never make it to the top. Bartridge (2007) emphasizes that leaders should practice the 5 L’s whi ch are about looking, listening, learning, leading, and laughing with their team. Such traits not only aspire people to perform well but also build up their connections with staff. The riveting combination of responsible leadership and management actually proves to be the magic recipe for any successful organization. Many people are heard calling themselves the leaders but seldom among them care enough to be good managers also. The old manager vs. leader argument implies that â€Å"some great managers struggle with change and fail to be great leaders, while a great leader might fail to create a sense of stability in an organization and not measure up as a manager† (Blagg and Young, 2001) which is why both leadership and management should overlap. The key element capable of carrying an anonymous leader all they way up to greatness and worldwide fame is good management and big globally successful companies like Apple Inc. and Starbucks fully acknowledge this fact. Both leadersh ip and management, though different in certain aspects, should be carefully balanced with each other as â€Å"both have essential roles in the function and effectiveness of organizations† (DeGrosky, 2012). Hard times strike every organization and every business around the world from time to time but the power lies in sharp managerial skills which can save the ratings of a business in the market from plummeting down even when finances are not so handsome. â€Å"An individual can be a great leader, a great manager, or both, but each area requires the mastery of slightly different skills and competencies† (Ricketts, 2009). People can be managed and carried safely through hard times if the leaders care enough to win their confidence by carefully balancing management and leadership. The Balancing Act as explained by Valenzuela (2010) implies that leadership and management should be balanced to cure the disease in which organizations tend to be either overmanaged or underled . Leaders should know how to listen and communicate as this is implied by good management. â€Å"Leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to be able to receive as well as send† (Blagg and Young, 2001). Without support of positive style management, leadership alone can never save a company from sinking in the depths of anonymity and failure. In fact without good management, there is no leadership