Leadership and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Leadership and management - Essay Example On the other hand, leadership focuses on the most important resource, which is people. Therefore, it remains as the process of not only developing but also communicating a vision for the future (Armstrong, 2012). The role of the leader is to design various responsibilities which engage an individual values and competence. Responsibilities are perceived to be motivating when they remain meaningful despite stretching them. Leaders use responsibilities to engage intrinsic motivations by for example creating something new, exercising individuals’ abilities, assisting others, and offering value to the clients (Armstrong, 2012). A good example to illustrate the difference between a leader and a manager is using the case of GE/Durham plant. The plant is responsible for assembling Boeing 777 engine. It has about 170 employees with just one manager. Consequently, within the plant, there are nine teams, each with one leader. The team decides among themselves who performs which work, they schedule training, overtime, and vacation. They also tackle productivity or lack of ethics among the team members. Hence, all of them are leaders. Even though, there are no direct incentives, what motivates the technicians is the desire for perfection and the pride of producing the best engines in the aviation industry. In this case, the work of the manager is to listen and inform the teams (Armstrong, 2012). From the example, it is evident that leadership is purely based on influence as well as shared meaning. It is also an informal role regarded as an achieved position. Part of every team member responsibility requires indepe ndent thinking and initiative. The responsibility of a leader is to decide on the direction of the team. Therefore, a leader is responsible for setting the ultimate objectives, goals, and aim for the team. The leaders will then not only inspire but also motivate the team so that they