Describing and Pursuing Essay Example for Free

Describing and Pursuing Essay Based on these two articles, we can say that according to Wheatley a leader should be fearless in face of challenges; a leader should lead change and be willing to take the first step to help and influence a situation. She also believes that leadership is not about being at an important position. According to her, anyone can be a leader simply by refusing to take things lying down and by standing up to do something about a problem and try and change the situation. In comparison to Wheatley, Paul Thornton, in â€Å"Leadership- Seeing, Describing and Pursuing what’s Possible†, believes that a leader should be able to accurately analyze the current situation and then see into future to envision the possibilities. A leader can envision the future by taking specific steps such as studying the best, asking questions, traveling and learning from the businesses of different countries and other such methods. Once a leader has discovered these possibilities he must describe these to other people in a way that catches their attention. And then deliver it in a passionate, energetic and animated manner. Finally, a leader pursues his dream in order to make it come true. In other words, a leader must work hard in order to become a successful leader. Thus while Wheatley believes that leadership starts at the very basic level and anybody can be leader simply by taking small steps towards bringing about a change, Thornton believes that leaders bring change through meticulous planning which starts with envisioning the future. Thornton’s second article, â€Å"Management Styles, Directing Discussing and Delegating†, discusses three management styles: Directing, Discussing and Delegating. In the directing style the manager tells a group of employees what to do, how to do and when to have it completed. In this management style, the manager does everything, letting the employs only follow the directions and is suitable when employees lack experience. In the discussing style of management, the manager asks questions before telling the employee what to do. The discussing style of management is about learning from the employees before assigning them a job. In the delegating style of management, managers discuss the problem with the employee, than tell them what to do, but let the employee decide how he completes the job. Thornton discusses these three management styles in details, explaining what to do and what to avoid in each of the three styles. When we compare this article with the other three articles, we find that this article covers a completely different topic than the rest. While the other articles talk about leadership, this article is about management styles. The article talks about the relationship between a manager and an employee. However, a manager need not necessarily be a leader and the article does not talk about leadership. If we compare the writing style of Wheatley and Thornton, we find that Thornton has a more formal writing style. He uses bullet points to express himself and summarizes in the end. Thornton’s articles have the look and feel of a lecture note. Also, the articles get directly to the point, talking about the issue at hand without getting into background stories. Wheatley, on the other hand has an informal writing style. Her articles are written for the layman and are full of stories to illustrate her point. Purely from a writing style point if view, Thornton’s articles are more engaging. However, the point she is trying to make has a tendency to get lost in all the stories she writes. This problem is avoided by Thornton, as he talks about the issue clearly and concisely and summarizes it all in the end to ensure that reader gets the point. Both Wheatley and Thornton have thorough knowledge of their subjects. However, Wheatley speaks from a practical viewpoint while Thornton is more theoretical. As far as their advice on leadership is concerned, once again Wheatley advocates a more informal style, stressing the fact that every individual can be a leader. Thornton, however, seems to feel that leadership should be learnt and he gives detailed commentary on how to be a better leader. There are many definitions of leadership. For Wheatley, it is about taking small steps to make a difference. For Thornton, it is about planning the entire process of change carefully. Both the definitions have seen the test of time and have thrown up successful leaders. But while Wheatley suggests these leadership styles, Thornton takes the pain to explain what leadership is and how to be a successful leader.