Although popular and academic literature often distinguish leadership from management, the complex nature of the chair position requires competency in both areas. Leadership theories and emerging models can inform the practice of managerial leaders.
Understanding Managerial Leadership as More Than an Oxymoron Erika Yamasaki As several of the preceding chapters indicate, midlevel managers in the community college are often burdened with tensions resulting from their dual roles as administrators and faculty members. For chairs, deans, and others who aspire to be leaders as well as managers, the challenge is even greater. The staggering number and pressure of administrative tasks leaves little time for midlevel managers to attend to academic activities, let alone to provide departmental leadership. When examining these multiple roles inherent in the midlevel manager’s position, it is necessary to consider the differences between leading and managing. Often these terms are used synonymously, or leadership is associated with an organizational position. In the case of community colleges, the literature tends to consider presidents and upper-level administrators as the campus leaders. Rarely are midlevel managers included in this group, although this volume has clearly demonstrated the need for leaders in the middle ranks. To build on the concept of “leading from where you are,” as Spaid and Parsons label it in Chapter Two, this chapter considers how models and theories of leadership may guide midlevel managers in their practice of managerial leadership.
Moving Beyond the Either/Or Framework A popular perspective on the differences between managers and leaders is summed up on the cover of Bennis and Nanus’s (1985) Leaders: “Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing.” Although the intent of this framework is not to belittle anyone for doing things right, it tends to portray managers and their actions as ineffective. Managers are important and efficient, but leaders are effective. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 105, Spring 1999 © Jossey-Bass Publishers
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