The Contemporary Superintendent by Bjork Lars G.;Kowalski Theodore J.;

Author:Bjork, Lars G.;Kowalski, Theodore J.; [Bjork, Lars G.; Kowalski, Theodore J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1994308
Publisher: Corwin Press
Published: 2005-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

However, Rost stipulates that Burns does not agree with the many interpretations of his conceptual framework in which leadership and management are compared to transactional and transformational leadership (Avolio & Bass, 1988; Enochs, 1981; Graham, 1988).

Rost also cites evidence of widespread backlash against management through the popularly held distinction between leadership and management suggested by Bennis and Nanus (1985) who claim that managers “are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing” (p. 21). According to Johnson (1996), the contrasts in the literature are quite distinctive: “Managers, though competent and dependable, are nevertheless pedestrian, inhibited by the rules and procedures of their organization. Leaders, by contrast, are imaginative, passionate, and freewheeling, if sometimes unpredictable and unreliable” (p. 219). Another example of the distinction made between leadership and management, offered by Zaleznik (1992), is that whereas “managers act to limit choices, leaders develop fresh approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options” (p. 129).

To eliminate the confusion, Rost (1991) believes that carefully developed definitions for both leadership and management are needed. Thus, he sought to define leadership in a way that reflects a paradigm shift away from industrial assumptions and values in order to be more suitable for the twenty-first century. He offers his definition as a beginning point for this new era: Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes (p. 102).

Rost (1991) then crated a definition for management, not based on opposition to or absence of leadership, but instead framed by four essential elements that correspond to the definition of leadership. Rost also offers his definition for management as a starting point for further discussion: Management is an authority relationship between at least one manager and one subordinate who coordinate their activities to produce and sell particular goods and/or services (p. 145). He then explained what each element in the definition means.

Although management is based upon a relationship between at least two individuals, only the manager has the authority to manage. At times, management contains coercive behaviors that are clearly understood between the manager and subordinates because the one who manages has been contracted specifically for this function. Thus, management “is a two-way relationship that is primarily top-down as to the directives given and bottom-up as to the responses given” (p. 147). Rost (1991) believes that management exists in all types of organizational models (e.g., hierarchical, democratic, flat). Coordination of activities by the manager and subordinates is required for the accomplishment of goals because “the raison d'être of management” (p. 147) is a specified outcome: producing goods, selling products, providing services, and responding to client or customer needs.

With leadership and management both defined using four elements, Rost (1991) believes that it is now possible to differentiate more easily between the two. Although both are based on relationships, leadership uses influence, whereas management requires authority. Leadership influence is multidirectional, but never coercive; management is top-down directional and coercive when or if necessary.

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