Discussion: Can Leaders Manage and Managers Lead?

David Neeleman has a hard time focusing on small details and even claims he has difficulty paying a light bill. At work, he has difficulty with mundane business tasks like writing letters, responding to e-mails, and keeping his calendar. So how is it that Neeleman was able to found JetBlue Airways and make it a successful and profitable airline? Neeleman recognizes that his strengths and weaknesses as a leader stem in part from his diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD). He says his brain is always looking for ways to do things better and can look at complicated situations and quickly offer simpler solutions. He also makes sure that the people he leads are good at the details of running a business so that he can better manage the leadership competencies at which he is best (Gilman, 2005).

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David Neeleman’s example demonstrates that not all leaders are effective managers. The opposite can also be true: Not all managers can be effective leaders in business. For this week’s Shared Practice, you examine the leadership skills and management skills of the leaders you have worked with.

To prepare for the Week 8 Shared Practice, reflect on your professional experience with leaders with whom you have interacted as a follower, colleague, or supervisor. Consider the strengths and weaknesses these professionals had with regard to leadership and management skills. How well did they perform their roles as managers and as leaders?

Then, identify from your professional experience a leader with whom you have interacted as a follower, colleague, or supervisor that matches only one of the following descriptions:

He or she is a good leader lacking effective managing skills.
He or she is a good manager lacking effective leadership skills.
He or she is an effective leader and manager.
He or she is a neither a good leader nor manager.

Once you have identified a leader from your professional experience that matches one of the descriptions listed above, do the following:

With these thoughts in mind: Write one full page, single space.

Without giving the actual name of the leader you have selected, identify his or her strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a manager. Then distinguish his or her leadership skills from his or her management skills.
Provide an analysis of the effect he or she had on the business environment where you worked at the time.

Select and share two lessons this experience has taught you about how you will balance leadership and management skills in your current position or when you have the opportunity in future positions.

*** Make sure what you are posting makes strong and precise connections to previous and/or current course content. You need to bring in some of the content from the topics in the assigned reading. Your initial post should contribute to the topic. It should demonstrate that you have read, understood, and critically evaluated the topic.***

Using previous week reading materials and previous experience and examples to support your argument is STRONGLY encouraged.

Remember to utilize the grading rubrics posted in the classroom to ensure you are meeting the requirements for your discussion board postings and your weekly assignments. Your grade is based on how well you meet those requirements.