Strong leadership is an essential propellant of growth in both public and private entities. However, leadership may have various meanings according to different people. In this regard, it is relevant to define leadership based on the given scenario. For instance, leadership and leadership roles may vary significantly between public health leaders and managers due to the different ways the leaders use a systematic approach in solving issues. This paper discusses my point of view on leadership and further highlights the difference that may exist between public health leaders and managers.
At a personal level, leadership means integration of positions, roles, attitude, skills, and behaviors that enable the rest of the people to discover their full potential in a given organization or public entity. In other words, leadership is about empowering other people and making them develop into resourceful personnel. A leader should exhibit defining values and traits such as having practical wisdom, balanced emotions, be scrupulous and self-driven (Zaleznik, 2020). Nevertheless, to understand what leadership should meet, it is important to deviate from concentrating on the personal characters and rather focus on what everyone demands of these leaders and sound leadership. Essentially, good leaders should be perfect ambassadors of the institutions they serve. They can achieve this objective by focusing on the vision and mission of the institutions they serve. Additionally, they should choose the preferred objectives to focus on and evaluate the outcomes of their preferred choice. In essence, good leaders should design a superior decision-making process and be able to deal with emergencies and unique patterns that may arise in their organizations.
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The major difference between leaders and managers is that managers have staffs who work for them while leaders have followers. Public health leaders primarily influence and motivate people to participate in processes that promote the well-being of their societies through methods like coaching and mentoring (Zaleznik, 2020). On the other hand, managers have to do the overall planning and staffing of the organization. They conduct these exercises through interviews to get a diverse pool of employees (Vroom & Jago, 2007). Planning is necessary as it enables the organization to avail strategies that will enable it to achieve its vision while staffing ensures that organizational work is simplified and that the organization enjoys a diversified workforce (Zaleznik, 2020). Managers also offer direction and control the overall activities that take place within the organizations.
In terms of system approach, public health leaders rely on a system that understands the correlation elements of care and their connection with each other. On solving a problem, the public health system approach uses four stages. The stages include identifying the multiple elements at hand, describing how they operate independently, changing the design of organizational processes and procedures, and actualizing the integration of new models to facilitate processes, people, equipment, and organizations (Leischow & Milstein, 2006). On the contrary, managers use the operational approach in solving organizational issues. The approach is adopted because management is viewed as a role based on unique functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling of human and material resource (Leischow & Milstein, 2006). In case of a crisis, the management can either decide to reduce or increase the workforce depending on the nature of the crisis or it can stop the operations of the organization for a given period. Essentially, for managers, management is profit-oriented (Vroom & Jago, 2007). In a nutshell, managers’ best system approach is that which guarantees the organization profits regardless of the consequences to the public while public health management should benefit the people regardless of its consequences to the organization.
In conclusion, leadership is generally about empowering people. While public health leaders have people following them, managers have people workin for them. Similarly, managers solve issues using operational approach while public health leaders use the case analysis approach.
References
Leischow, S. J. and Milstein, B. (2006). Systems thinking and modeling for public health practice. American Journal of Public Health , vol. 96, no.3.
Vroom, V. H., & Jago, A. G. (2007). The role of the situation in leadership. American psychologist , 62 (1), 17. Doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.17
Zaleznik, A. (2020). (2004, January 1). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2004/01/managers-and-leaders-are-they-different
