Distinguishing Leadership from Management- Overlapping Goals and Facilitating Change in Nursing Differences Between Leadership and Management

Despite sharing some similarities, leadership and management have distinct and significant differences. Managers exercise the authority assigned to them by the organization and use it to drive the different resources assigned to them to achieve company goals. They accomplish this by making decisions and controlling and evaluating programs. Their roles and responsibilities are specific, and they use their authority to direct all subordinates regardless of the absence or absence of resistance (Whitney et al., 2022). On the flip side, leaders are visioners who achieve their goals by influencing, empowering, and improving interpersonal relationships. They draw power from influencing people.

There are overlaps between leadership and management when they are both involved in influencing people or making plans, organizing, hiring, and controlling processes. Nurse managers can take advantage of this overlap by developing their managerial and leadership qualities to advance safe and quality practice, advocate for patients and positively affect patient outcomes. A nurse must develop personal leadership and managerial preferences, styles, and characteristics to become an effective leader-manager. Accordingly, integrating leadership and management skills is vital for the success of healthcare organizations in the long run (Grand Canyon University, 2018).

Two Leadership Theories

Transformational leadership theory argues that leaders work through influencing, inspiring, and empowering their followers or teams to work beyond their self-interests and support each other to achieve a common goal (Whitney et al., 2022). The advantage of this style is it can drive innovation and improve employee morale. However, the disadvantage is that it may be hard to fire employees due to their close relationships. Servant leadership theory argues that effective leaders are those that serve people. These leaders offer whole-hearted devotion to the people they lead and engage them before making a judgment or decision. The strength of this strategy is that nurse leaders build trust, rapport, and teamwork across the organization. However, it may have the disadvantage of adversely affecting the decision-making process in the facility due to possible role confusion.

References

Grand Canyon University (Ed). (2018). Nursing leadership & management: Leading and serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/

Whitney, S., Thomas, J., & Helbig, J. (2022). Theories and Concepts in Leadership and Management [Ebook]. Retrieved 9 April 2022, from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/1.