Leadership and management are necessary components of any organization, and managers who combine leadership skills with management traits offer organizations enhanced productivity and better long-term prospects than those managers who are not leaders. However, the line between leader and manager is ill defined: leaders are not necessarily good managers, and managers do not always possess leadership characteristics. Leaders provide the long-term vision for the organization, while managers possess the talent for putting that vision into concrete action and managing day-to-day activities that accomplish that action. The type of leadership that succeeds in any organization is, to some degree, determined by the organizational culture in which the company operates. Increasingly, however, organizations are demanding that their managers train in leadership so that leadership principles are applied throughout all levels of the organization. This research examines management and leadership and the effect that this new orientation of combining the two is having on the workplace.
Today's managers have a more complex role than managers of previous eras. They must balance a highly regulated work environment with the needs of a diverse group of workers, many of whom have conflicting personal and career goals. Added to this is the high pace of technological change and the large amount of information that must be generated and disseminated among subordinates and superiors. Ethics and equality in the workplace are emerging as themes for the coming years in the workplace, and considerations such as new financing techniques, the global economy and health care issues confront managers with a vast array of issues that were not dealt with by managers of previous eras ("The Best," 2003).
The fundamental role of managers has not changed much over the course of the twentieth century--managers plan, direct and control subordinat
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