Management And Leadership

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

Management implies the existence of formal authority, while leadership may not have any connection with formal authority.

Marketing managers are in their positions because they have been given the formal authority to perform a job, including directing the actions of others. The responsibility for seeing that the job gets done accompanies this authority.

Leadership does not require a delegation of formal authority from 'above' in an organization. The distinction between leadership and management is not always clear.

Agency employees follow the directions of marketing managers partially because they must; however, people may follow the directions of a leader for entirely different reasons: because the individual is physically attractive, knowledgeable, or for any number of other reasons.

Marketing managers do not always have to be leaders to be effective, but some key ideas about leadership can be useful. The successful marketing manager's concern with leadership focuses on obtaining premium performance from employees.

There are several types of leadership approaches. The approaches applicable to the role of a marketing manager include: trait, style (this is probably the most applicable), and situational. Though there are others, I feel these are specifically appropriate.

Early studies about leadership focused on the personality traits of past leaders. Leaders were thought to be dominant extroverts who possessed self-confidence, empathy, and intelligence. This approach assumes that a better understanding of leadership can be gained by studying the personalities and behavior of famous leaders. Keep in mind, though that while numerous famous leaders had these traits, many other individuals with the same traits failed to become leaders.

Two basic dimensions of leadership are identified in this approach: initiating structure, which means getting the job done, and consideration.

Initiating structure may involve scheduling, maintaining, and communicating standards of performance; emphasizing that deadlines be met; and assigning agency employees to particular tasks.

Consideration refers to the warmth, trust, friendship, and mutual respect demonstrated by a leader.

By combining initiating structure and demonstrating consideration, a marketing manager may get excellent results. However, these two aspects of leadership don't amount to anything if a marketing manager is not an effective communicator. Communication affects motivation, leadership, and effectiveness.

Better communication results when barriers are identified and eliminated. For example, in the lead article, Mary Beth Bolen suggests that producers use survey forms and checklists to ensure the work-flow efficiency. What she is saying is that thorough, effective communication is essential to prevent perceptual barriers. These forms are supplements/aides to effective communication.

Differences such as the size and climate of the insurance industry, the nature of the tasks, and how well a marketing manager gets along with agency employees (and even the owner), make the difference in the effectiveness of a given leadership style.

Certain leadership theories, like the above, can be learned, but successful leadership also depends upon an individual's personality.