Answer

Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills

Different leaders have distinguished leadership styles. I choose Bill Gates as one of the most inspirational leaders of the 21^st century. Bill Gates is one of the global entrepreneurs with successful business leadership skills. The key strategies used by Bill Gates include: creating winning business models, providing long-term analytic solutions, hiring great people, and accepting challenges from colleagues (Gates, & Gates, 2013). His leadership styles centers around growing and learning, caring about people, and having visionary attitude. Gates focuses on the expansion of his knowledge on communication and public speaking. He also learns from the achievements of his mentors.

Bill Gates developed Microsoft software while inspired by his power of vision. He can envision his goals and appropriate plan for them. His imaginative ability is also expressed in his philanthropic programs such as the Malaria Project (Gates, & Gates, 2013). Gates shows kind and caring attitudes towards other people. He is a believer in philanthropy and humanitarianism. Leaders who work with the aim of helping others to grow always have the support of the majority. Bill Gates has good leadership qualities are good examples for rising leaders. However, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University without completing his education. Although the drop was a weakness, it was to give him more time to concentrate on his Microsoft software project. 

Most leaders are well educated and have graduated in degree or doctoral programs. President Barrack Obama, for instance, fully attended his degree program at the Occidental College. Gates has good communication and public speaking skills that most successful leaders have.

Bill Gates has both management and leadership roles. He has served the management role of outlining Microsoft’s product strategy (Gates, & Gates, 2013). He initially worked in between leadership and management roles as the active software developer in programming language products. Management roles differ from leadership roles. Bill Gates role as an entrepreneur involves organizing the factors of production, planning, and developing strategies for the effective running of the company. Leadership roles entail influencing the team members to perform the expected task for the success of the company. I had once influenced the student section I was leading to taking part in a cross-country walk. I used effective communication and persuasion skills to ensure they participate in the health promoting activity.

Task 2: Differences between Management and Leadership

There are key differences between leadership and management. A manager without leadership skills focuses on management only while the emphasis of leaders without management skills is influencing others to work towards achieving the objectives of the company (Lunenburg, 2011). The manager would focus on the organizing and planning for the resources and processes involved in the activity of the organization while a leader emphasizes on the attitude of the employees.

A leader works to expand the boundaries of operation through a transformative skill that will ensure the employees are involved in decision making. Management involves dictatorial, transactional, and authoritative styles that emphasizes on the results rather than the achievements of the company (Lunenburg, 2011).

High emotional intelligence is indispensable for obtaining effective leadership skills. The main characteristics of persons with high emotional intelligence include the high preference to form new friendships, vivid knowledge of personal strengths and weakness, self-motivation, and avoid perfectionism (Lunenburg, 2011). The person will help others and expect nothing in return. He will also be readily willing to forgive others of their mistakes and avoid holding unnecessary grudges. Skilled leaders should have high emotional intelligence due to the diversity of the people they lead. Leaders must be willing to forgive their subjects and avoid grudges for the organization to run (Mullins, 2010). Self-motivation will help the leader to show determination in their duties so that they can easily influence other employees to deliver.

Task 3: Communication skills of leaders

My direct supervisor has effective communication skills. The supervisor has good listening skills that ensure a two-way communication. He chooses relevant dialects that suite the worker addressed. The supervisor ensures appropriate dress code in every supervision session. He develops the good rapport with even non-members and delivers information to us from the senior management in time.He also uses gestures of humility and maintains constant eye contact each time he addresses the workers. Most importantly, he always corrects in secret and praise in public.

Good leadership, skills are required to ensure the sustainability of organizations. My leadership would encourage diversity in the production process. I would employ people without any discrimination based on age, sex, race, or color. The gender equality ethics enables me to treat both men and women as equal at the workplace. I would also maintain integrity in my position and ensure I deliver the information that I rightly know. Incorporation of new technologies such as WhatsAPP group for my team to enhance communication will greatly motivate the workers. The workers I lead should be taken for trips and picnics to improve cohesion and unity. I can also use personal funds to motivate employees by providing some regular drinks as a corporate social responsibility.

Task 4: Conflict Management Resolution

Conflict management resolution skills are required for leaders to solve the internal conflicts between the subjects. I will evaluate a disagreement that occurred between the employees at my current post that was calmly solved by their supervisor. The leader had good negotiation and bargaining skills. He informed the workers of the value that existed in between the two points of conflict. The conflict emanated from the role shifting issue. Some employees opted to leave work even when others have not yet arrived for role shifting. He informed the complainants of the proposed increased salary for longer shifts. An effective leader should resolve peaceful conflicts between the subjects (Adair, 2009). The leader used persuasive techniques to negotiate with the workers. The skills are effective in the 21^st century when all the workers are well informed of their rights.

The study has changed my view of leadership and management. I have learned that I have to put the interest of people first to be a good leader. Kindness and an all-inclusive decision-making are indispensable. Management focuses on strategies and policies involved in production processes while leadership entails influencing other people to follow your idea or work to achieve a common goal. Leaders have financial shortages and they need appropriate strategy to maintain sustainability. The internal conflicts most organizations face can also be solved by frequent negotiations with the workers. The workers can be allowed to elect their own representatives for negotiations. An effective leader in the 21^st century must have good communication skills and should be able to convince others to follow their idea.