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Herman Mak Learning to Lead

Team #8 Fall 2009 Weekend Session

People have different views of what a leader is and what they do. Furthermore, many

individuals are unable to separate the differences between management and leadership functions.

This was evident when I asked people at my company what they thought leadership was. WhatLeaders Really Do by John P. Kotter will provide us with the framework for this discussion as

the article describes the differences between management and leadership. Management has the

function of bringing order to complexity while leadership is about coping with change.

In the article, Kotter discussed three differences between leadership and management. The

first difference is that managers rely on controlling and problem solving to ensure plan

accomplishment while leaders do so by motivating and inspiring their team. The second

difference is that managers develops the capacity to achieve its plan by organizing and staffing

while leaders do so by aligning people. The third difference is that managers manage complexity

by planning and budgeting while leaders set a direction for developing a vision for the future.

After asking three co-workers to define leadership, I found that many of them described

points that were similar to what Kotter discussed. For example, all three of my co-workers spoke

about how a leader is one that can successfully inspire others to believe in, to be motivated by,

and to desire working towards a goal. However, similar to Kotter, my co-workers provided

different methods of inspiration. For example, one co-worker said that inspiration could be

achieved by earning the respect of his/her peers and subordinates. A subordinate will respect a

leader that is able to standup for his/her team in difficult situations. Another co-worker

emphasized how a good leader should be one that takes time to understand the intrinsic

motivations of his team members and leverage that understand to inspire them to believe in a

goal. Therefore, while my co-workers all agreed that motivation is an essential part of

leadership, they also identified different styles of effective motivation.

Good communication is an important focus in Kotters article. In the leaders ability to align

personal, good communication of the organizations vision will empower employees with more

freedom to take the initiative to adjust rapid changes in the environment. My co-worker

provided an example where his supervisor did not clearly communicate the vision/purpose of his

new team. As a result, my coworker was not able to make a prompt decision concerning a non-

conforming aircraft engine part. This delay resulted to engine shipment target not to be met,

therefore, negatively effecting profits and companys reputation to the customer. A second co-

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Herman Mak Learning to Lead

Team #8 Fall 2009 Weekend Session

worker stated vagueness will cause confusion, low morale, and ultimately a hazy picture of the

teams goal or process, making progress more difficult.

To properly align personnel, Kotter believed that leaders must have credibility. This is in

agreement with my coworkers belief that a leader must be able to walk the walk. A leader

must be able to lead by example.

While Kotter discusses the difference between management and leadership, my co-workers

comments suggest that good leadership and good management comes hand in hand. For

example, one co-worker spoke about how a good leader anticipates and plans for the possibility

of negative outcomes, which is what Kotter describes as a way that managers handle complexity

through planning and budgeting. However, this is also a means that a leader would do to prepare

an organization to cope with change.

One of the biggest takeaways when comparing Kotters discussion of management and

leadership and what my co-workers defined as good leadership is good managers and good

leaders share many similarities or to state it another way, their differences are not that great. In

fact, Kotter discusses how some leadership functions should work in complement to

managerial functions. Therefore, good leaders should also have good management skills, and

good managers should also have the ability to inspire a team through leadership.

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