Styles of Leadership and the Fusion of the Leader and Manager and the Impact on Organization

Introduction

Generally speaking, the role that a leader and a manager play are very similar in that both are in a position to influence their followers in such a way as to complete and assigned task or goal. How do we determine how it is best to influence a follower? Some believe using the leadership style is best while others believe that using management style is the best way; how do we distinguish between the leadership style and management style of influencing the follower? The attributes that a leader possesses, mentioned by Bennis are: leaders innovate, develop, inspire, they have a long-term view, ask what and why, originate, challenge the status quo, and do the right things. In contrast a manager: administers, maintains, controls, has a short-term view, asks how and when, initiates, accepts the status quo, and does thing right. Many people believe that they should stick to one style of leading while others believe that the role of the manager and the leader should be fused to be a more effective and efficient leader that is able to adapt to change while being able to implement rules and regulations in a new environment.

The Impact of Leadership Decisions on the Organization and Follower Interactions

The role that a leader plays with a follower is that of a person who inspires a follower to follow his point of view to achieve his goals and making the follower feel that the leader’s goals are part of his goals as well. Although researchers cannot necessarily assume that “better” leadership leads to “better” business performance, some understanding of the relationship between leadership and business performance is required (Hakan Erkutlu 2008). This is indeed true, being a great leader does not equate to better business performance. A leader might have a vision that might be too costly for a business. For instance, asking an employee to take the time to improve on a skill by using company resources to pay for his training will take time and money away from what the employee must be doing for the company. This will only prove useful if the skill the employee is learning directly benefits the company, and if not, it will only be a waste of resources. This sort of leadership is transformational leadership and it is based mostly on inspiring and motivating employees to improve themselves.

The Impact of Managerial Decisions on the Organization and Follower Interactions

The role that a manager plays with a follower is more of a guide that instructs the follower what to do in a step-by-step fashion. Managers make employees more productive by following a set guideline, as mentioned by Hakan Erkutlu, “Managers use different leadership behaviors in work settings. Their behaviors will have direct effects on employee outcomes. Adequate use of their behaviors may result in higher employee satisfaction, commitment, and productivity.” This type of leadership is transactional leadership, and it rewards employees by performing well in their duties and solving problems as they arise. Thus transactional leadership is more practical in nature because of its emphasis on meeting specific targets or objectives (Gregory A. Aarons 2006). However, this type of leader is more managerial in nature and lacks the innovation and empathic abilities that a transformational leader has and most businesses require to succeed.

Fusion of the Leader and Manager and Effective Management

A fusion of leadership skills and managerial skills is essential to the success of a business and leading employees effectively. A manager by him/herself will not be able to motivate an employee if he lacks the charisma a leader uses to inspire a follower towards a vision or a goal, and a leader will not be effective if he does not enforce employees to follow a set of guidelines that a job requires, even if it is tedious. The expectancy theory says there should