Leadership and Management: Understanding the Concepts and Models

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Leadership and management concept:
The difference between leadership and management can be summarised as leaders seek constructive
change, whereas managers establish order (Northouse, 2017, p. 10). Northouse (2010, p. 3) defined
leadership as a process of influencing others to achieve shared objectives/goals.

Management on the other hand has been defined as a process of planning, organising, resourcing,
directing, and controlling various activities in order to accomplish desired goals (Ghuman and
Aswathappa, 2010, p. 104)
Based on these definitions the key difference between management and leadership lies in the use of the
words controlling and influencing. Management can often be viewed as a top down model with one
person being responsible for ensuring the goals and aims of an organisation are clearly defined and
obtained, whereas leadership can be more inclusive, with members within the team holding a leadership
role, whether formal or informal. There are of course also similarities between the two, and it is possible
to be both a good manager and a good leader.
Analysis of Theories and Models of Leadership:
There are many theories and models of leadership and these can be implemented individually or in
combination. The circumstances of the team and their goals should guide the leaders in applying the
most appropriate style to best meet those goals.
Transformational leadership was first described by Burns (1978) and is a method in which there is a two-
way development of members and the leader through encouraging and inspiring each other to follow a
shared vision.
While focusing on the goals and objectives they also show care and concern for others. This care and
concern also supports leader-member exchange theory, where the team can be broadly split into 2
groups, those that work well with and have a positive personality fit with the leader, and those that are
less compatible. The challenge for the leader using this theory is to bring the whole team into a more
cohesive group.
Adaptive leadership is used to support a team or organisation in handling challenges in a way that
provides a positive outcome and is a useful method of implementing changes. An adaptive leader must
be open and honest, and be able to acknowledge their mistakes, which can promote the rest of the team
to follow and be inspired by the leader.
Strength based leadership is when the leader is able to identify and utilise their own and other team
members strengths to achieve the best performance from the team as a whole.

All of these models can be used individually or in combination to effectively lead. Different
situations and circumstances may be better dealt with when a particular method is used.
Theories and Models of Management:
Classical management theory tends to focus on the structure and mechanics of the organisation, what is
good for the organisation, and practical management. It can be used to discover and promote the most
effective and efficient methods for completing a procedure, but ignores the human elements of the
organisation, and can reduce the flexibility of the organisation to meet the changing needs of the
consumer.
Human relations theories focus on those ignored human elements, individual and group
motivation, and leadership.
Neo-human relations theories focus more deeply on aspects of human motivation such as incentives
and satisfaction. They enable managers to identify different types of workers and how best to
improve motivation, but can cause the manager to become too rigid in their treatment of the different
types of worker.
Systems theories attempt to combine the previous theories and look at the organisation and those within
it as a whole, as well as breaking the organisation down into separate components that work
independently from and interdependently with each other.
Concepts of Quality in the Context of Adult Care
Good leadership and effective use of resources are necessary to ensure that services are safe, effective,
caring, and responsive in providing person centred care. To ensure high quality, services must place the
user at the centre of their care planning and delivery based on their individual needs, but also not
compromise the quality of care provided due to any characteristic of the individual. Services should be
encouraging and supporting ongoing improvement, responding to feedback, learning from any mistakes
that may be made, and promote quality
through everything that they do. This will ensure that service users have a higher quality of life, provide
positive experiences for all stakeholders, and promote safety. This in turn could encourage others to
provide feedback that can then be used in planning future improvements and changes.
The Impact of External Influences on Leadership and Management in Adult Care
External factors can influence the styles of leadership and management that are implemented in order to
better respond to those factors. It is likely that a more bureaucratic or authoritarian style may be used to
ensure these external forces are satisfied. However, this can still have positive and negative effects.
Authoritarian leadership focuses on completion of tasks and lone decision making, and provides clarity to
the team, particularly if they are inexperienced. This can also be highly useful when dealing with