Effective management is essential to the overall success of any organization. Managers take on the responsibility of overseeing operations and delegating duties to subordinates. They have to ensure that the business flows efficiently and that employees maintain high level performance. Thus, managers usually observe and monitor employees to make sure that goals and objectives are met. They also have to coach and train employees to ensure that they are aware of company policies and are able to meet performance goals. Ultimately, managers have to provide employees with the skills and knowledge in order to perform effectively and ensure that the business runs smoothly.
But leaders usually guide employees and motivate them to improve their performance. Motivation is an important element of any effective leader-employee relationship because it allows the employee to feel as if the manager cares, which encourages them to perform over and beyond company expectations. Leaders allow employees to feel inclusive and allows their voices and ideas to be expressed and implemented into the process. Thus, leaders are motivational agents because they encourage and recognize employees for their hard work and quality performance. Ellis & Abbott (2015) suggested that the primary difference between leaders and managers is that “managers follow the established process and protocol and are bound by rules and guidelines, whereas leaders use their understanding of human behaviour to get the work done” (p. 96).

Thus, my current supervisor possess a lot of leadership qualities. He always motivates employees to perform better by informing us of our importance and value within the company. This makes us feel wanted and needed, and encourages me to perform at my highest level. Leaders have more interpersonal skills and take the time to understand the diverse behavior patterns of their employees. Thus, my current leader always makes sure to have meetings that allow us to intermingle and connect with each other. He considers team-building to be an essential part of our work climate, and we feel more like a family unit. Incentives such as recognition and monetary awards are great, but having a leader who cares about the well-being of his employees and pushes us to do the best we can do is one of the most rewarding experiences in the workplace.

An effective leader must be competent in leading the organization, leading the self, and leading others. The competencies involves have a strong, clear vision and accomplishing goals, which is an important part of leading an organization. Being self-aware and confident is essential to leading the self and leading others involves effective communication, team building and motivation. Management skills should include leadership qualities to help expound on their skills to retain, teach and train employees to deliver high quality performance.

Some of my strengths include my ability to communicate effectively and build rapport with other workers. This is an essential strength because it allows me to interact and build positive relationships with other workers and leaders, which is key to being successful in my field. One of my major weaknesses is my lack of confidence in my abilities. Having confidence is an excellent quality of a leader because other people are drawn to that confidence, and it inspires them to perform even better. Thus, I will do some self-assessments and exercises to help build my confidence and become more aware of my own imperfections. Also, volunteering at non-profit organizations and taking on leadership positions will allow me to become more confident in my leadership abilities. Essentially, I know that I possess many of the qualities needed to be a great leader and with more self-confidence, I will definitely be able to soar in the education field and become an inspiration to students and fellow administrators.