MGT3263M: Integrating Leadership and Management Abilities

This report examines the integration of leadership and management abilities, emphasizing the importance of proactive communication, maintaining professionalism, and creative problem-solving. It delves into how managers can effectively lead and inspire their teams by understanding individual employee needs and fostering trust. The report uses reflective learning experiences to illustrate key concepts, such as the need for managers to communicate policy changes transparently and avoid bias. It further highlights the significance of decorum and sophistication in managerial conduct, advocating for leading by example. Ultimately, the report underscores the role of creative problem-solving in addressing workplace issues and ensuring employee well-being.

Running head: INTEGRATING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ABILITIES
Integrating Leadership and Management Abilities
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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INTEGRATING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ABILITIES
Introduction
Leadership forms an intrinsic part of the management process and it is not something that
managers can do without when they have large numbers of people working under their
supervision (Ali et al. 2015). Managers are expected to demonstrate good leadership abilities
at all times, and expected to be in sync with those who are working under them, in order to be
able to bring the best out of them rather than the worst. Leadership takes on many different
forms and aspects, and as it is something that a manager or a supervisor needs to deploy in
order to be taken seriously by those who are entrusted under his care (Ali et al. 2015). It is
important to remember that leadership itself is an activity that has many forms and
dimensions to it. There is aggressive and hard core leadership where goals and objectives are
thrust upon leaders onto those who are working under them, with the latter having no choice
but to meet such objectives by hook or by crook. On the other hand, there are leaders who are
inspirational, and who possess the wisdom and the intellect that is needed in order to motivate
their employees in the best ways possible. Such leaders are not condescending towards those
who work under them but rather do everything in their power to make sure that their
subordinates harbor respect for them at all times (Amanchukwu et al. 2015).
When it comes to the implementation of business goals and strategies the role that is
played by leadership and management is something that often varies from one organization to
another. There are some leaders and managers who are solely interested in looking into the
interests of business owners and seldom have any compassion or interest in the actual
employees of a firm or a business organization. Such leaders tend to be quite self-centered
and arrogant and are always focused on doing what they want and getting their way rather
than motivating others to do well (Amanchukwu et al. 2015). These are leaders who usually
fall back on autocratic styles of leadership in order to impose their views and suggestions on

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others, and never ever cognizant of the needs and requirements of those who are working
under them. Then of course, there are transformational leaders, that is, leaders who
emphasize on the role of change and transformation in order to bring about the best in their
subordinates and to get them to give their optimum for the organization that they are working
for. A huge advantage of working under a transformational leader lies in the fact that such a
leader takes the views and opinions of his subordinates into account before implementing any
important decision (Ali et al. 2015).
This report identifies two important management themes, namely leadership and
innovations and operations management. The report discusses these themes and their various
sub themes in detail and concludes with a number of effective recommendations for the
successful implementation of such management themes.
1. Management Theory 1 – Leadership
1.1. Introduction
As discussed above, leadership is something that all managers need to possess if they are
to successfully lead and inspire those who are working under them. It is not enough for
managers to be introverted and shy or withdrawn if they are to meet the goals and objectives
of the organization that they are working for. Rather they need to be people who have
leadership abilities and who can motivate their employees with speeches and actions and get
them to do their best for the organization (Amanchukwu et al. 2015). Not all employees are
the same and it takes the role of a good leader to detect the merits and de-merits of every
employee before decisions are made as to how the merits are to be utilized and how the de-
merits are to be bypassed at all times. In other words, what a manager has to do is to look into
the wellbeing of those who are working under his leadership at all times, instead of adopting
a bias towards any one of them in any which way whatsoever. Managers need to be

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motivated themselves and motivate their subordinates in turn, if they are to gain the respect
and the love of their subordinates rather than being hated by them at all times (Yasir and
Mohammad 2016).
1.2. Sub Theme 1 – Proactive Communication
Based on the reflective learning experiences that have been outlined in the reflective
learning blog, it is clear that managers need to be absolutely proactive in their
communication with employees in order to avoid misunderstandings from arising at any
given point of time (Zhao et al. 2016). Proactive communication forms an integral aspect
of leadership and all managers need to be cognizant of the fact that not all the people who
are working under them are active communicators and that many of them have to be
coerced or persuaded quite a bit in order to get them to come out of their shell. Since
managers are given the responsibility of implementing policies, it is the duty of a
manager to make policy changes if any known to employees at the earliest possible
instance. Policy changes is not something that ought to be communicated by managers to
employees at the last minute (Storey 2016). Employees cannot be kept in the dark about
policy changes and every effort has to be made on the part of managers and leaders to
engage with those who are working under them on a one on one level in order to make
them understand what the policy changes are all about instead of forcing them to readily
accept such changes. While the managers definitely serve the interests of an organization
or a corporation, they also serve the interests of the employees who are entrusted under
their care and who need to be kept abreast at all times regarding the various policy level
changes that are made on the part of the administration of a company, as such changes are
likely to affect or impact them in the long run (Cunningham et al. 2015).
One important benefit of engaging in proactive communication on the part of
managers and leaders lies in the fact that such proactive communication makes it possible

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for managers to go ahead and avoid misunderstandings when they interact with their
employees. If managers are honest in their communication with their employees about the
policy changes that are taking place, they will avoid any miscommunication in this
respect (Blomme et al. 2015). The employees will not blame them for the changes in
policy and will not accuse managers of bias or any form of discriminatory behavior when
the change in the policy actually starts being implemented (Bauer 2015). Proactive
communication is something that thus helps managers to engage with their subordinates
quite easily. It is the job of a manager to get his subordinates to work really well for the
organization and by proactively communicating with employees at all times, managers
can go a long way in preventing misunderstandings from arising or any accusations of
bias from being made. Employees are likely to be fond of and look up to managers who
proactively communicate at all times, and who do not keep that is work related in
confidence from employees (Blomme et al. 2015).
1.3. Sub Theme 2 – Maintaining a High Standard of Professionalism
What is evident from the reflective experiences that have been outlined in the
reflective learning blog, mostly, the hurt and pain suffered by Private X, who accused the
manager of bias in treatment towards her, is the fact that managers have to carry out their
operations in an organization with the highest level of decorum and sophistication.
Managers cannot afford to get angry or lose their temper in the way that employees are
known to do from time to time (Blomme et al. 2015). Managers have to learn to keep
their cool at all times and have to carry out their work with a certain degree of
sophistication so that those who are working under them look up to them instead of
disrespecting them. Handling employees is not easy to do at all and one of the best ways
to encourage good behavior among employees is to lead by example and be impeccable in

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behavior (Yasir and Mohammad 2016). If managers are well behaved, the employees of
an organization will also feel motivated to be well behaved and will not engage in the use
of foul language or anything else that is likely to draw the negative attention of the top
level management of the organization. When it comes to speech in particular, managers
need to be careful about the manner in which they put their thoughts and views across to
others. Managers when they interact and communicate with their employees need to
remember that they are not talking to friends and associates but are instead speaking to
people who are willing to work under their leadership, that is, people who will implement
their decisions and will look up to them at all times while working in the organization
(Storey 2016). It is a superior role that a manager enjoys and a manager must always pay
due respect to such a role by making it clear in his behavior towards all of his
subordinates. He must never be rude or abusive in his treatment of his employees at any
point of time, as by doing so, he will get his employees to resist him rather than follow
what he has to say. Getting angry is something that a manager is not allowed to do at all,
no matter how justified his reason for getting angry is. It is imperative for a manager to
exercise care and patience when he speaks to his employees and when he gives them
instructions to carry out their work. If he is well behaved in his approach towards his
subordinates, then he can expect his subordinates to be well behaved in their approach
towards him always (Zhao et al. 2016).
1.4. Sub Theme 3 – Creative Problem Solving
Creative problem solving is something that managers definitely need to engage in, in
order to look into the needs and the concerns of employees in the best way possible.
Managers cannot afford to have a static or a fixed approach when it comes to problem solving
(Ali et al. 2015). This is because problems or issues that are likely to arise at a work place
can take on many different forms and dimensions. Manager need to be as creative as possible

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when it comes to solving issues at the work place in order to make sure that the needs and
requirements of all subordinates are duly met rather than the needs of just one or two (Bauer
2015). If disputes arise among employees or employees suddenly turn distrustful of their
managers, then it is the job of the manager to show patience in this respect and come up with
ways and means by which trust can be gained from employees instead of getting them to feel
hostile and angry towards the manager (Cunningham et al. 2015). What is imperative for the
manager of an organization to understand is that not all employees are the same and that
every employee in an organization is characterized by certain needs, desires and interests that
the manager needs to be aware of in order to determine how best to handle such an employee
in the event of a crisis situation. Managers as such need to study the behavior of their
employees from close quarters and need to thoroughly engage with their employees on a one
to one basis to understand their individual traits and characteristics (Yasir and Mohammad
2016). Managers when they do so are able to come up with creative solutions to many of the
problems that are likely to arise between workers and between workers and the managers in
an organization. They do not have to take recourse to the use of force in order to get their
subordinates to understand where they are coming from. They can instead try and get to
understand their employees better so they can arrive at solutions of a more diplomatic nature
to the problems and issues that are posed by employees.
2. Management Theory 2 – Innovation and Operations
2.1. Introduction
Managers are expected to be innovative in their approach towards employees in order
to get the best out of their employees in return. Managers must be in a position to
encourage creative and innovative thinking at all times to cut out the monotony of routine
work and to give employees the freedom and the flexibility that they need in order to
come up with interesting ideas and thoughts that can ultimately work well for the

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enterprise (Bauer 2015). If a manager acts rigid and stubborn in his approach towards his
employees and is unwilling to allow them to make interesting suggestions, then such a
manager will be someone who will be feared rather than respected (Zhao et al. 2016).
Those who are working under him will do so out of a sense of obligation and what this
could ultimately lead to is a high employee turnover, given the fact that there is no
employee on the face of this earth who would be willing to happily work under the
supervision of an autocratic manager. It is therefore imperative for a manager to embrace
innovating thinking and innovative approaches to the handling of employees and
operations in order to be respected and followed rather than feared and hated (Blomme et
al. 2015).
2.2. Sub Theme 1 – Fostering Empathy for Employee Needs
Not all employees are the same and this is a fact that managers really need to be
cognizant especially if they are handling large numbers of people at a time (Blomme et al.
2015). Operations managers need to be aware of the unique traits and characteristics of each
and every employee in a company or in an organization in order to understand the best
methods and means that ought to be deployed for the management of the employees (Van
Proojen and De Vries 2016). While there are some employees who are alright with rough and
rude behavior, there are other employees who might not be accepting of this at all. It must be
the prerogative of any person who is in a managerial position to look into the unique needs
and requirements of every employee and work accordingly as only then can such a manager
do a successful job of getting all the employees to work equally well for the company (Bauer
2015). As is evident from the experiences that are mentioned in the reflective learning blog,
an employee is capable of accusing a manager of biased behavior or discriminatory behavior
if such an employee feels that the manager is being intentionally insensitive to the needs and
requirements of the employee. However, this might not be the manager’s intention at all.

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Every effort needs to be made therefore on the part of managers to go ahead and address the
requirements of their employees in the best way possible and make it clear to their employees
that they are entirely understanding of their needs and requirements and that it is not their
intention to hurt the feelings of their employees. How successfully a manager is able to
convey such notions depends on the communication skills and abilities of the manager. The
best managers in today’s day and age are those who are possessed with the qualities and skills
that are needed to understand what it is that their employee or their subordinates require of
them and how quickly and readily such requirements ought to be met to give subordinates the
motivation and incentive to perform their job roles with success (Ali et al. 2015).
One of the most effective ways by which a manager can get himself to be truly
understanding of and empathetic to the needs of his subordinates is by having personal
conversations with them from time to time (Xu 2017). By engaging in personal conversations
with his subordinates it is scene that managers are able to successfully understand where it is
that their subordinates are coming from and what it is that needs to be done on the part of the
managers to make such employees feel welcome and accepted at the organization that they
are working for (Cunningham et al. 2015).
2.3. Sub Theme 2 – Motivating Employees through the Implementation of
Good Policies
Successful managers in today’s day and age take the wellbeing of their subordinates into
consideration at all times. This is because it is the subordinates who actually perform the role
of the organization and who need to be guided in the best possible way by managers in order
to meet the goals and the objectives of the business organization. As such managers are
usually people who take into account the fact that while policy changes are necessary for
organizational growth and development, such policies need to be implemented in a way that
these do not have an adverse impact on the employees of the organization (Dartey-Baah

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2015). As is clear from the reflective experiences that are mentioned in the learning blog,
Private X was outraged with the manager because she was entirely unaware of a policy
change that had taken place, and it was not a change that she was very welcoming of. Such an
incident makes it clear that good managers who are people who do not refrain in any way
from implementing changes in policy but who always take into account the likely effect that
the change in policy will have on the different employees of the organization. Considerations
are made on the part of successful managers to understand the various pros and cons
associated with a particular policy before they take a decision to go ahead and implement it
right out (Swansick and McKimm 2017). Many good managers are seen to keep their
employees abreast if the policy changes that are likely to be implemented, and employees
who are likely to have concerns about changes in policy are invited to come up and express
their concerns as freely as possible, so that the policy change can be kept from hitting them
hard (Blomme et al. 2015). If a manager is able to understand how good or bad a policy
change can prove to be for those who are working under him, he will be able to take a
decision as to whether that policy change deserves immediate implementation or whether it is
something that should be pondered over or changed, to better suit the needs and requirements
of employees (Bauer 2015). Of course not all managers in all organizations and companies
across the world always take into consideration how good or bad a policy change can be for
employees. For the most part however, managers are and need to be well aware of the
positive and negative effects that are associated with institutional policy changes and their
possible implementation. An organization that is looking to avoid employee turnover at all
costs and which is looking to establish good levels of communication with all of its
employees will always implement policy changes only if these are not likely to have a dire
impact on the employees of that organization (Erhart 2015).

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2.4. Sub Theme 3 – Empowerment of the Middle Management
A key role that is played by managers today is the empowering of middle managers to
identify issues and problems among employees and to determine the ways by which
employees can be supported in order to get such issues resolved (Storey 2016). It is not
always possible for the top level management of an organization to be aware of the feelings,
requirements, needs, likes and dislikes of subordinates, especially if it is a large organization
that is served by many employees (Cunningham et al. 2015). In such a situation the role that
is performed by middle managers turns out to be very useful indeed (Ghasabeh et al. 2015).
Middle managers are usually people who employees tend to trust far more than they would
the higher management. Middle managers act as a link between the employee base of the
company and the top level management of that company (Bauer 2015). Middle managers are
suitably positioned to inquire about employee needs and wants and dissatisfaction if any so
that the same may be conveyed on their part to the higher management in order to get such
matters resolved (Freeman 2016). Managers therefore to give middle managers a
considerable amount of authority in order to get to know what it is that their employees
would like the most from them and how best such demands on the part of the employees can
be met without hampering the needs of the organization (Fiaz et al. 2017). The role of a
middle manager can also avoid any miscommunication from taking place between the top
level management of a company and its employees. The middle managers usually serve as
representatives of both employees as well as the management, presenting the case of one to
the other in the most diplomatic of ways possible. As such, companies that make extensive
use of middle managers are companies that are devoid of disputes taking place between
employers and managers. The middle managers easily step in, in the event of a dispute and
make a case for either party, as a result of which matters get resolved in a smooth and
efficient manner (Lee 2016). What is clear from the experiences that have been listed in the

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reflective learning blog is that the agony that Private X suffering on account of her
miscommunication with the manager is something that would not have taken place had their
been middle managers in the scene to convey her thoughts and views to the main manager. It
is precisely due to the absence of middle managers that much of the misunderstanding arose
between her and the manager, with her accusing him of partaking in discriminatory behavior
towards her.
3. Recommendations for the Better Management of Employees
 Managers need to take cognizance of the fact that employees are human beings just as
they are and that they are prone to making mistakes. It is important for managers in an
organization not to harbor unrealistic expectations from employees in terms of
performance and behavior (Mittal 2015).
 Managers need to be sympathetic to the needs and the requirements of employees if
they are to get the best out of their employees over the long term. Being insensitive to
employee needs will only result in managers pushing their subordinates further and
further away from them (Nawaz and Khan 2016).
 Managers should always make sure the working conditions are those that are safe and
secure for all employees and that no employee is subjected to discriminatory behavior
by any member of the management. If this comes to the notice of the manager, he or
she needs to take punitive action against such a person immediately (Puni et al. 2016).
 Managers must make it a point to communicate with their employees at all times in
order to be in the loop with what is happening with their employees. By
communicating personally with employees, managers can definitely enjoy a better
working relationship with them rather than making them feel hostile and angry
towards managers (Ricard et al. 2016).