Assigned and Emergent Leaders
Although I would not have been able to differentiate assigned vs emergent leadership by terminology or concept prior to today I have always been fascinated by how some people are able to influence others with no title at all. As referenced in my previous post, I have numerous examples of how both emergent and assigned leaders have been effective and ineffective in their leadership both positively and negatively.
My personal experience with emerging leadership comes from my participation in our local church. Our style of praise and worship includes demonstration which can take many forms – clapping, raising our hands, kneeling, etc. When we began attending this church I had come from a congregation where I had been taught and encouraged to become comfortable in public demonstration of my worship. So, I very quickly became a “leader from the floor” and my actions encouraged those around me to also praise and worship openly. As a result of this I was recognized as an emergent leader and subsequently became an assigned worship leader. As my role in ministry has changed over the course of the last 5 years I am now no longer an assigned worship leader, and I have returned to my emergent leader role in the congregation. What I find most interesting is my observation that “leading from the floor” has been far more effective in encouraging the participation of others than leading from the platform ever was. I hope to explore this further in a future post.
Leaders or Managers or Both?
When I began my career in health care management in 2007 the leadership team spent a lot of time emphasizing the differences between managers and leaders and I recognize now that I have inadvertently developed a negative connotation with the word “manager”. Northouse (2016) states the following: “The primary functions of management, as first identified by Fayol (1916), were planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling. These functions are still representative of the field of management today.” Northouse also references the work by Kotter (1990) “The overriding function of management is to provide order and consistency to organizations, whereas the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement.” (Northouse, 2016, p. 13)
I can think of numerous examples of individuals who effectively manage and many who effectively lead, and some who can effectively do both. In the health care environment in my province right now leaders, both assigned and emerging, are critical. We are embarking on a journey of monumental change and we need individuals who are visionary, who will lead the charge, and motivate others to implement the improvements that we need to deliver safe and sustainable health care. However, we also need managers who will maintain the stability and structure for the staff to continue to deliver the health care that our patients require now. I agree with the citation from Kotter that “…both management and leadership are essential if an organization is to prosper.” (Northouse, 2016, p. 13) I don’t believe that one approach is more effective – both management and leadership are required.
I have to admit that I am somewhat troubled but also challenged by the Zaleznik (1977) reference that “…leaders and managers themselves are distinct, and that they are basically different types of people.” (Northouse, 2016, p. 15) As I have now developed the stigma that “managers are bad”, and “leaders are good”, what do I now do with the fact that as an individual I identify with as many managerial traits as I do leadership traits? As I embark on this learning journey, I have to believe that I can either develop or strengthen the leadership traits, however, the question that I pose to myself and to the group is this: does growing in leadership skills and abilities demand releasing the managerial skills and abilities?
Hi there,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. I especially could connect and relate to your experience finding “leading from the floor” to be more effective than your previous assigned leadership role. I too would like to delve more into this later and examine why we find this to be true.
As far as your question about releasing managerial skills and abilities goes in order to grow as a leader, my immediate response is “not at all”. I think that some of us inherently have these organizational skills and they help enable us to foresee, plan and share a vision. I think organizational skills can enhance our leadership abilities, however, the mistake a lot of people make I think (based purely on personal experience with some leaders) is when people in positional leadership roles use their managerial skills to try and micro-manage others instead of empowering them or creating opportunities for them to build their own skills and be successful. I think true leaders surround themselves with people who are able to bring skills to the table that enable everyone to be successful in working towards a common goal. If someone in a position of power does everything (or attempts to do everything) or takes credit for everything, those people will never be true leaders.