Leadership, Management and Organizational Culture

Leadership versus management

Someone who is not a leader can still be a manager because he or she may be relying more on his or her position rather than his or her qualities. Leadership often focuses on the latter than the former. Such a person may not be followed willingly by subordinates, and people will only do what they say because of their status in the organization. A manager that is not a leader will not engage with employees to grow and develop them. He or she will not attempt to give them a sense of purpose in their jobs (Kotter, 1990).

One can be a leader and not a manager. This person may be functioning in another capacity in the organization that may not have formal recognition. Nonetheless, they might still have the ability to influence others’ actions as they work towards organizational goals. The leader who is not a manager may have to get approval from members of the organization daily as they have no leadership job description, yet the same would be not true if he or she were a manager.

Leadership and its influence on organizational culture

The behavior of leaders concerning organizational goals and priorities will have a heavy influence on the organizational culture. If a manager says one thing and does the opposite, this will send a message that the matter is not that important. On the other hand, if the manager says one thing and sticks to it, it may have the ability to change behavior among workers. Leaders may also influence culture through the use of rewards and incentives. The rewards need to be such that they encourage the right behavior. If a manager wants to create a customer-focused culture, then reward systems should not be organized in a manner that focuses on cost minimization (Yukl, 2002).

The leadership of my organization achieves goals through proper communication to employees, alignment of the organizational policies and practices with those goals, and involvement of employees in planning.

References

Kotter, J. (1990). What leaders really do? Harvard business review, 13(3), 56.

Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in organizations. NJ: Prentice Hall.