Leadership Journey: Leader Vs Manager
To be a successful leader, you have to have a certain skillset which enables you to not only to develop others, but motivate and inspire, and influence people. Often the line gets blurred between leadership and management. Being a manager doesn’t automatically mean you’re a leader, and vice versa.
Some key differences between being a manager and a leader:
⭐ You can be a leader without managing a team
⭐ Being a manager doesn’t automatically make you a leader
⭐ You can be a leader in a junior role
⭐ It can be non-hierarchical
Myth Buster: Leaders are born great
A common myth is that to be a great leader, you have to be born a great leader. I’d argue that people are not born into leadership. Leaders are made. Sure, some people are born with certain skill sets desirable to leadership, when you imagine a leader’s qualities, you may think they’re extraverted, great at public speaking and so on, but it could be argued that that would suggest introverts for example couldn’t become great leaders then? Not at all. Take Warren Buffett for example, known for being a great leader and an introvert. There’s a lot of good which comes from being introverted or extraverted, it all comes down to leadership style, which i speak more about in my Leadership Journey: Leadership styles blog. Leadership comes in all forms, and this can be learnt, it’s not restricted to any talent or fortune which only certain people are born with.
I believe anyone can become a leader, if they desire to do so. The same can be said for management but as much as certain skills may be required for both roles, the qualities and personalities can differ a lot between a manager and a leader. A manager is hired to specifically manage people within a company. They have responsibility for managing each persons progress, performance, holidays, balance of the team to name a few of their roles. A leader might not have responsibility, why? Because they’re not necessarily tied to a company or a business, they’re visionary and influential, they build motivation and grow their following who believe in their vision and purpose.
