MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

Management should be Leadership

Management should be Leadership

Introduction

Management is a way of getting things done with the help of people to achieve a certain goal or target by utilizing all the available resources proficiently. Management has four major functions include planning organizing leading controlling. Every function has its own importance. All functions are used in organization to achieve a certain level of target. By using and managing financial, human and technological resources efficiently organization can achieve desired level of output. Leadership is a process of getting things done through people. By influencing them to achieve desired criteria. Leadership is defining a target and direction for organizational members and motivating them to achieve those targets by following the defined direction. Leadership means that person is taking responsibility to make things better and achieve a goal with the help of team work.

The leadership of organizations plays an important role in defining and furthering the mission and vision of the organization through exceptional management and leadership functions. In recent years, the traditional management system has encountered serious challenges in the manner they have been operating. This challenge has come from the burgeoning focus on greater accountability and maintaining sustainability of the organization following several instances of transgression by leadership. Well-known cases of misdeeds include fraud and tax evasion by the president of United Way of America in 1992, embezzlement by the chief executives of New Era Foundation in 1995 and American Parkinson's Disease Association in 1996 respectively, and mishandling of funds by the Red Cross in the scandal after September 2001, among many.

Discussion

There was, concurrently, an evolving interest among entrepreneurs and leaders from the private for-profit world in the functions and operations of organizations. These leaders believed in the inculcation of professionalized managerial and leadership skills in administration. Due to this foray of for-profit management principles, the traditional form of leadership is gearing up to meet this challenge. Professional leadership is an essential requirement for professional management of organizations. The primary functions of management include planning, clearly defining roles and responsibilities, budgeting, accurate accounting and reporting, tracking performance and evaluating results and outcomes, and collaborating, coordinating, and networking with external agencies including donors and the community. By performing the aforementioned functions properly, executives can become professional leaders and further sustain the mission and future of their organizations.

This paper examines the necessity of leadership in management of organizations by focusing on the functions of management. Why did the need for leadership arise? Was there anything wrong or ineffective in the way organizations were led and managed earlier? What factors led to the increased demand for leadership? By emphasizing professional leadership, are scholars trying to implant concepts of the corporate for-profit world into the world?

This paper begins by examining the meaning of professional leadership followed by a discussion on its development. The succeeding section talks about the findings from the empirical research on how for-profit corporations decide on which organization to select for support among many. One important finding of this research is the need ...