Functional Areas of Business

Charda Johnson MGT/521 December 24, 2012 Lola Jackson

I am a manager at a small organization of about 20 employees. I work for a

substance abuse clinic and we are funded through the county of Fresno. I have

been at my job for about two years but I have only been a manager for one year.

This past year has been a struggle but a learning process as well for me. I am

learning how to be a leader for my employees and a good manager. In this paper

I will focus on leadership and management. Two things that is very similar.

Leadership is defined in the dictionary as the action of leading a group of

people or an organization (dictionary.com, 2012). Being a leader involves doing

that but being a leader also consists of other things. Leaders are the ones who

influence others by their knowledge and goals. A leader is someone who

continues to work on their skills and knowledge so they are able to give there

employees 110% all the time. Also by being a leader your actions can influence

people so you have to be careful on how you represent yourself. Schen argued

Those leaders strive to embed their beliefs, values and assumptions into

members shared understanding (Academy of Management Journal, 2012). I do

believe leaders do this overall. Look at all the things that are going on in the

world today everyone that is consider to be a leader has somewhat brainwashed

people in believing in their ethical systems. If you are going to be a leader you

also have to have clear communication with your organization as well. You have

to be confident in your position as a leader because no one is going to follow you

if you are not sure on your task or not sure on what you believe in. It’s a lot of

leaders who don’t know what they are talking about but they have confidence so

people follow them.

Management is similar to being a leader because a leader is usually

someone who manages. Management task is usually being able to get

everyone together in order to achieve a goal or task. Managers have to

organize things they have to control situations; they have to plan and they

have to lead. Managers are put in place to make sure that the organization

is run smoothly. Buckingham & Coffman, (1999), describe one function of

management as an imperative, “The manager role is to reach inside each

employee and release his unique talents into performance,” (p. 58). Managers

are really put in place to make employees work and make sure they get their jobs

done. If employees do not get their job done then managers are the ones who

have to deal with the consequences.

My roles in both these areas would be to do all the things listed and more.

As a manager I would be responsible for making sure things were organized. At

my job being organized means to have all paper work finished and where it

needs to be. Being organized at my place of business also consist of making

sure schedules are organized and that my sites are organized. I would have to

plan for budgets for my sites and things I want to do for the kids. I would be

controlling my sites by making sure things get done how they are suppose to and

making sure that people are not stealing time from the company. I would be

leading by setting a good example for employees and by being a good influence

on them so that they know that their manager is a hard worker just like them. I

have had many jobs where my manager was lazy and didn’t set a good example

for the employees. I also have had managers