Leadership VS Management
Interviewee A
Question 1
I am currently involved in management in the in the (name of the school) School of (location). I am the Director of Human Resources and Administration in the school. My senior level management position as the Director of the Human Resources and Administration department of the school is quite a flowing and interesting task. I learn so many things about people and the way in which they operate through my employees and some clients who seek my advice. My position ensures that I am always engaging in different talks with different people. The result of this is that my scope in perceiving various things in management grows wider by the day. I eventually gain even more experience in addition to my educational qualifications.
Question 2
Not at all! Leading and management are not the same. These two roles, in fact, offer different assignments to the people involved. In leading, people are often required to follow strictly the rules of the book as they are in their actual context. There is some form of rigidity in the sense that it is always the commands of the leader that are followed. In management, however, the people involved tend to have an almost mutual understanding of each other. The manager and their employees discuss issues and tasks before or review them after they have been assigned. Managers are always interested in the motivation and advancement of their employees as a way of encouraging them to increase their productivity within a particular firm.
Question 3
The types of planning that I do as a manager mainly include strategic and tactical planning. As the Director of Human Resource at the school, it is my duty to conjure up different ways and strategies through which the school’s strategy may be attained. This is given the critical role of any Human Resource department in the process of defining, directing and implementing the strategies of any institution through the use of employees. In doing this, the primary concern is to deal appropriately with employees.
I also engage in tactical planning including the functionality of the different units within the school in their objectives towards the overall objective of the school. I often need to do this through the recruitment, shuffling and even training of employees in ways that would contribute to the best performance in their departments in conformity to the main objective of the school.
Question 4
I measure my employees’ performance through the performance appraisals conducted by their supervisors. I rarely depend on the employees themselves to provide their view on their performance. They should know what they do and how to make things better towards the school’s goals.
Question 5
I have undergone training in human resource and hold a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. I got my position as the Director of Human Resources and Administration (name of school) School of (location) through an interview and a series of assessments that sought to verify my expertise in Human Resource Management and Administration.
Interviewee B
Question 1
I am the Vice President at the (name of the institution). This middle level of management offers several challenges. These include the possibility of disagreements between you and your main boss. Another common issue of conflict that arises in such a case is the likelihood of being pitted against two parties or sides that you should represent. For instance, you may be found in the middle of a scuffle between the executive manager and the rest of the employees. All in all, it is a positive experience as there is just so much I learn every day.
Question 2
Yes. Leading and managing is the same thing. This is because they both require the person in charge to be at the top of the given level they manage or lead. In addition to this, they are in control of their followers and direct them on the things they should do or not. Both words, leadership and management, are simply used interchangeably to refer to the same thing.
Question 3
I mainly engage in strategic and tactical planning. This entails the devising of the possible and most appropriate strategies that would result in an increase in the company’s performance and attainment of its other goals. This includes the preparation of ways that would be best at accomplishing this feat.
Question 4
I gauge the performance of my employees by striking a balance between the appraisals made by the employee’s supervisor and their own evaluation. This offers me two different points of view that easily lead a person to the real situation at the working station. For instance, if the self-appraisal and that of the supervisor are worlds apart, there is a definite issue of poor performance or inability for the employee to meet adequately the company’s goals.
Question 5
I have undergone extensive training in the several sectorial areas of my position. These include project engineering, project control and planning, contract management and pipelining. I got my position by applying from the job and attending all the scheduled interviews.
Interviewee C
Question 1
I am the executive manager of (name of the institution, location). As an executive manager, there is much stuff always to go through and approve or refuse. The experience at this top level is the ability to be in virtually full control but seem to be controlled at the same time. I relate this with my desire to deliver the best results every time. In this way, I am simply an employee of the people of (location).
Question 2
Leading and managing are not the same. Leadership deals with the giving of virtually prescribed commands to a person’s – leader’s- followers to perform certain things. These things do not necessarily concur with the provisions and objectives of the institution headed by the leader. All that the leader desires is the need for their employees or followers to execute their commands. Management, on the other hand, deals with the use of the different skills and attitudes possessed by a person in charge of other people to promote and improve the productivity of such people. Managers are always compliant with the set rules. In spite of this, managers are flexible in their dealings. They have the will to listen to their employees and let them take part in the processes through which the institution makes its decisions. Managers also understand and appreciate the crucial necessity of employees in any institution. The, therefore, strive to motivate and inspire their employees towards the achievement of the goals of an institution.
Question 3
As the Executive Manager at the (name of the institution, location), I do different types of planning. The most prevalent types of planning in my office are the strategic and operational planning. I do these with the aim of attaining the educational and professional goals of ADEC in the successful education of the children in (location). I do this from quite a wider scoped aspect as there are several other offices and employees who are in charge of the implementation of the main strategy of ADEC (name of the institution).
I have also engaged in operational planning. This should not be my role the in real sense but needed to be done with the main aim of trying to standardize the way the schools in the Western Region were run.
Question 4
I have several ways of measuring the performance of my employees. The main method is through the consideration of the views of the people. This is because we work for them and the nation. If we cannot satisfy the people, then my (name of the institution) zone does not perform. The failure by the zone to perform then implies that the employees’ performance is lower. Another way of measuring the performance of my employees is through the reports that I receive from various units within the region. This is, in fact, the most reliable method that I use in such performance evaluation.
Question 5
I underwent training in Human Resource Management and Administration and Management. I got my Executive Manager at (name of the institution) by making an application for the position and attending interviews that bolstered my curriculum vitae.
Comparative Summary
All the three interviewees express their views regarding their existing management levels in ways that imply positive attitude and satisfaction. Interviewee B, however, is more concerned about the emergence of conflict due to his middle position. He then stops complaining and claims to learn more from his position daily.
Among the interviewees, only Interviewee B considers leading and managing to be the same thing. To him, they all lead to the same result. This result is the execution of the command of the leader and manager. Both Interviewee A and Interviewee C believe that leadership and management are two different concepts. Leadership entails an arbitrary characteristic in that leaders simply give instructions for execution whereas managers tend to take part in the execution itself. Managers aim at motivating and inspiring employees.
All of the interviewees have taken part in strategic planning as part of their duties as managers I their different positions in different organizations. This, therefore, means that among the main roles of any manager is the duty of ensuring the strategic planning of the institutions they work for.
Both Interviewee A and Interviewee B depend on the appraisals of employees done by their supervisors in the measurement of their employees’ performance. Interviewee A, however, fully depends on the supervisor’s evaluation while Interviewee B considers the supervisor’s report and the employee’s self-appraisal together. Interviewee C, on the other hand, considers the general results of the organization’s efforts and the view of the public to measure employees’ performance. He also employs the reports he obtains from various organizational departments. Performance evaluation is, therefore, critical to the knowledge of any given manager. It is through such measures that any manager is capable of reviewing their employees and strategies and how to achieve them.
