Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?

We all like to think that people possess natural leadership qualities, however leadership isn’t something you just ‘have’ – you need to work on improving your skills over time. This debate has been going on for years as to what makes a leader different from a manager. So, lets dig in on this.?

The main difference between being a leader and a manager, is that people follow leaders, while managers have people who work for them. A leader is a person who leads a particular team and influences team members to perform well and achieve their goals. Whereas a manager is a person who manages the organization or a project by planning, giving direction, maintaining coordination and control.?

Leaders follow transformational process as they develop vision and find a way forward to achieve the goal. So a leader always looks after a team. A leader exhibits strategic view, team management, open mind and promotes innovation. However managers follow transactional process as they delegate tasks, meet objectives. So a manager oversees a team. A manager exhibits organizational skills, management skills, problem solving skills and conformity.?

Last but surely not the least, a leader creates circles of influence and lead by inspiring. A manager creates circles of power and lead by authority.

My personal perception is that a leader always looks after their team but a manager oversees their team which are actually altogether different tasks. Managing people is an art and a science. Leadership skills will benefit managers a lot in building and managing successful teams.

Thoughts?