Leadership vs. management

In 1977 a debate rose from a newly released article by Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik, with the title “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”. The article created discord in the business schools, and the study of leadership and management has not been the same since. Zaleznik argued that managers are all about taking a path of stability and control, while trying to resolve problems, which they might not know the significance of. He also argues that managers focus on how to decide, not what decision to make. Leaders on the other hand embraces chance, even if it comes with disorder and without structure . In 1990 John P. Kotter published the article “What Leaders Really Do” to address the article by Zaleznik and the arguments that he makes. Kotter argues that leadership is not something mystical or something only few people can do, and neither can it be claimed that leadership is anything more than management. Kotter though agrees with Zaleznik, that management is about control and stability while leadership is about embracing chaos, where Kotter [1990] puts it as “Management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change". Looking at the terms on a project base there would typically assign a project manager to manage the project, who is assigned to work towards a certain goal of the project but sticking within the frames set. Basically, a project manager is assigned to do administrative work, to make sure that the project runs as planned. During a project the project manager or a colleague can act as a leader of the project, if finding themselves being an expert on the area or as someone who is good at motivating people. There would not be assigned a leader for a project, but one can appear if needed or if someone possesses leading skills.

Background

Structure of this article

• In the first section leadership and management in projects will be addressed and explained. This will be done by using the theories of transactional and transformational leadership as well as the definition of project management from PMI and PRINCE2.

• In the following part the use of leadership in projectmanagement will be addressed.

• In the last part will report the limits of the addressed leadership styles as well as management in projects.

Definition of project management

• “Project managers manage the project team to meet the project objectives” .

• A project manager is assigned to achieve the objectives of a project within the performance targets:

Time, cost, quality, scope, benefits and risk.

A project managers job is to ensure the assigned team work towards the goal set for the particular project, by operating with the following:

• Planning

Plan the way towards the goal, how are we going to get there. Doing it the right way. Creating a timeline for the project and sticking to it.

• Delegating

To ensure effectiveness, who should performe which task and at what time.

• Monitoring

Monitoring whether the team is performing as planned. A projectmanager should ensure that the assignments are executed as it is agreed.

• Controling

Is the team doing what they are supposed to. Is the project within budget and within the timeframe.

(This chapter will be elaborated and a illustration will be added)

Definition of leadership

In PRINCE2 leadership capabilities are not provided, as they suggest that leadership is imperative in project management but also comes in so many variations that it is impossible to define in a method. .

In PMI Guidebok The guidebook . Various leadership styles are defined as tools managers can use in projects. The guidebook [3] suggests as Prince2 that leadership is an important part of the management role, to motivate the project teams or individuals. In this article the two following leadership styles will be addressed: Transactional: "where a leader can give rewards to employees based on the accomplishments." Transformational: "where a leader empowers followers through inspirational motivation and encouragement for the followers to be innovative and creative." Will also be addressed in theories “Leadership skills: skills that involve the ability to guide, motivate, and direct a team.”

Definition of leadership

In PRINCE2 leadership capabilities are not provided, as they suggest that leadership is imperative in project management but also comes in so many variations that it is impossible to define in a method. [4] In PMI Guidebok The guidebook [3] various leadership styles are defined as tools managers can use in projects. The guidebook [3] suggests as Prince2 that leadership is an important part of the management role, to motivate the project teams or individuals. In this article the two following leadership styles will be addressed: Transactional: where a leader can give rewards to employees based on the accomplishments. Transformational: where a leader empowers followers through inspirational motivation and encouragement for the followers to be innovative and creative. Will also be addressed in theories “Leadership skills: skills that involve the ability to guide, motivate, and direct a team.”

Theories

Transactional leadership

Transactional leadership is a leadership style where a leader highlights the transaction between colleagues. The transaction is based on a vision or goal shared by the leader by which the followers will receive rewards if they fulfill the requirements.

Transformational leadership

In some ways transformational leadership is an extension to the transactional leadership. The leadership style is about inspiring the leader’s colleagues and followers to accomplish superior results by using one or more of the four competences of transformational leadership.

1. Idealized influence (II)

A transformational leader behaves in certain ways to be role models, which makes their followers admire, respect and trust them to do the right thing in a giving situation. Leaders who possesses a lot of idealized influence are more likely to take risks, but their followers can expect them to act with high standards of moral.

1. Inspirational Motivation (IM)

Another competence of a transformational leader is their way of motivating and inspire their followers, by giving their work meaning or challenge them in some way. The leaders can do this by sharing their vision of an attractive future, that lies ahead of the work that must be done.

1. Intellectual Stimulation (IS)

Another way a transformational leader can inspire more accomplished work from their followers is to stimulate their urge to be innovative and creative with their execution of the assignment. A way to inspire this is for the leader to praise new ideas or encourage creative ways of looking at the problem at state.

1. Individualized Consideration (IC)

The last core trait of a transformational leaders is to act as a coach or mentor for the individual follower. The leaders focus should lie on the individual’s goals for achievement and development of their own leadership skills. This is essential for the individual to reach their own full potential.

(An illustration will be added)