Research Paper: A Small Step for a Man

Research Paper By Axela Rinoa
(Leadership and Entrepreneurship Coach, UNITED KINGDOM)

A Giant Leap for an Organisation – From Manager to Leader

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.- Tom Peters

In today’s organisations it is easy to observe lack of understanding of the distinction between productivity management, people management and leadership. The term manager is very often interchangeably used with the word leader. In an ideal world these two could blend in a collaborative symbiosis, while still being essentially very different. Most people would be switching roles depending on the requirements of certain situations. The fast paced environments create a space for misunderstanding and confusion, where egos come into play, assertiveness disappears, giving place to aggressiveness and lack of exploration of human potential. This leads to further subconscious poisoning of the work environment. As a result people who were given authority and should be leading others care more about titles and splendour, but not leading. Building authority is based mostly on throwing positions and using them as main conversation points or continuous point of establishing the “influence”. Terms such as “I am your manager and you should listen to me” or “It’s the boss’s time, not yours” are only fuel to an already-hot engine.