LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

The Relationship Between Leadership Development And Management Development



The Relationship Between Leadership Development And Management Development

Introduction

Organizations are currently involved in the dilemma of leadership and management development challenges, which results in lack of management abilities that usually rob the high-potential managers of critical on-the-job experiences, depleted resources for employee development, and a rapidly aging workforce, which results in decline of experienced managerial talent for leadership positions (Bassi et al 2008, pp. 9). The general failures of organizational structures and significant changes in work arrangements force executives and management development professionals to rethink how high potential managers achieve the necessary developmental experiences for leadership positions (Day 2001, pp. 582).

Leadership and management are usually considered interchangeable phrases when training and educational programs are referred, but the question arises that are they really the same? In order to teach leadership to employees, it is important to understand that management development contents typically include the vital set of skills in the training plan based on the opinion that managers must be strong leaders to be effective (Bassi et al 2008, pp. 9). However, both leadership and management development can be considered as they have nothing to do with the other. Again, much leadership and management development programs integrate many of the similar skills, but there are differences which should be noted (Mole 2000, pp. 35).

It is important to understand that in order to improve personal leadership, management development skills may not be necessary, but, for those who are striving to be better managers, leadership and management development both are critical to the success (Judge et al 2002, pp. 765). Some of the major differences between the two are the discussed below:

Leaders are considered to be leading people, whereas managers focus on managing work. Leaders have an approach to set a new direction and managers plan to achieve those directions. Further, leaders always have a proactive approach, whereas managers tend to have a reactive approach. Leaders facilitate the decision of other people in the organization, but managers make the decision for all the people of the organization (Foti et al.2007, pp. 349).

Literature review

There are many evidences, which show that organizations engage managers in the leadership development process, and managers also add more value to build the leadership skills beyond that of management development specialists, consultants, academics, or other professionals. In 2001, Day (pp. 590) illustrated an example of General Electric's Leadership Center, in which he states that executives and managers are responsible for teaching the leadership development activities. Every year, thousands of GE managers attend these programs primarily taught by corporate officers, business unit heads and other senior executives. Interestingly, many CEOs at leading companies have adopted the executive-led approach to leadership development, including managers of 3M, Home Depot, and Nokia.

The early studies, undertaken in the last century, imply that management is at its core a rational scientific process that can be behaviorally studied, systematically trained for and performance-measured. Early studies suggest a number of functions that managers perform ...