Theoretical and practical aspects of top‐managers leadership quality development in the national science and practice

On the basis of the analysis of scientific sources, a number of differences between the concepts of «leader» and «manager» are established. The key differences are that the manager is an administrator who relies on the system, works for the purposes of others, uses arguments and controls. The leader is an innovator who motivates his colleagues, works for the purposes of the group he leads, inspires, entrusts, gives impetus to the movement, he is an enthusiast, who has the most important personal qualities for the group. Leader-manager is a «team player» capable of teamwork; an innovator who has deep knowledge in various fields, is able to study throughout his life. An analysis of the leadership qualities of top managers was conducted. It was discovered general (competence, organization, ability to work, activity, initiative, sociability, persistence, independence, self-control, observation, intelligence) and specific qualities of leader-manager (organizational insight, ability to actively psychological influence, ability to organize work, leadership position, need to take responsibility for themselves). It was proposed to classify the qualities of leader-manager by criteria of managerial functions: organizational (setting goals, defining tasks, planning work); search engine (search resources, find ways to achieve results, create a support network); activity (achievement of results). A review of leadership development suggestions on the educational services market was conducted, which indicates that, unlike other target audiences, top managers can be trained in special programmes to develop specific competencies. Among the top managers, the most popular are trainings for leadership development, during which they master various aspects of management: motivation of subordinates, decision-making, organization of work in teams, etc. As a result of such training, top managers are not involved only in the analysis of management activity process (planning, decision-making, assessment, control, etc.), but they also master the knowledge and algorithms of solving management problems and work on developing their leadership potential. It was found that the presence of leadership qualities is an important criterion for the effective work of the top manager on the way to achieving the competitiveness of the firm, organization, institution, etc.