What is the difference between managers and leaders? Is it possible to be an effective manager without being a leader? Provide examples to support your answer.

The difference between managers and leaders are their pathway to job completion. I believe that managers deal more with processes and procedure. A manager is thought to be more structured, controlled, analytical, and rule-oriented. A manager might purely look at deadlines and outcome achievement. I think managers that are not leaders may look at projects more as a project manager. Leaders create environments where workers can achieve success through collaboration and team building. Leaders tend to be experimental, visionary, unstructured, and flexible. Leaders create goals with their team members. I believe that workers tend to work more diligently for leaders than managers because they feel as though the goals set have included their outcome as well. I believe a manager can get the job done, but not necessarily the best job possible. I also believe a strong leader on a team is not always the manager. I believe in today’s workforce that members of a team that specialize in specific areas can be a leader and have it be acceptable by all members of the team including management. According to Seth Godin in the book Triibes people want to be led and motivated they don’t want to be managed. Leaders create movements in which people want to join and be a part of.

What is a significant employee behavior issue that managers confront in the workplace? According to organizational behavior theories, how do you think it should be addressed?

There are many significant employee issues that managers must confront in the workplace some of these are Productivity, Absenteeism, Turnover, Deviant Workplace Behavior, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Job Satisfaction. I think the most significant of these behavior issues are Organizational Citizenship Behavior. These are the behaviors that allow the workplace to be a civilized community that works positively together.

Successful organizations need employees who will do more than their usual
job duties—who will provide performance that is beyond expectations. In today’s
dynamic workplace, where tasks are increasingly done in teams and where flexibility
is critical, organizations need employees who will engage in “good citizenship”
behaviors such as helping others on their team, volunteering for extra
work, avoiding unnecessary conflicts, respecting the spirit as well as the letter of
rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerating the occasional work-related
impositions and nuisances (Robbins & Judge, p. 30)

It is important that everyone is willing to go above and beyond to create a successful outcome in the department or organization. Good leadership can create this community. Leaders that lead from within can exemplify these characteristics for their employees to follow. They can create an environment where employees feel comfortable to be flexible, and feel that their above and beyond attitude is appreciated by leadership and team members. This allows the department to work more as a team.


Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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In what specific ways can an individual influence an organization through the quality of his or her management and leadership skills?

I have found that the three most important leadership skills an effective manager can bring to a management position are attitude management, procedure management and goal setting.

I believe that attitudes are as contagious as the common cold. A manager that keeps a positive attitude can affect the entire team in a encouraging manner; in that same vein a manager with a negative attitude can cause the entire team to be pessimistic.

Procedure Management is important for a team in order to have a consistent way of approaching projects. If a team feels like they need to recreate the wheel every time they encounter a new project they will waste time and money. Proper procedures can keep a team organized and efficient. A manager that knows how to put these procedures in place and manage them can keep their team running smoothly.

Goal Setting is imperative for managers. Everyone on the team needs to know what the outcome of a project should look like. A manager that sets strong goals for their team and allows them to understand their role in the outcome can expect powerful results. A truly effective manager may have his team contribute to the goal creation so they have ownership in the final results.