Manager vs Leader

The list below (taken from personal experience and diverse sources) makes a difference between the essence of a leader and that of a manager. We often convolute these roles expecting leaders to be managers and managers to be leaders. Now it must be noted that ideally every leader needs a certain dose of management skills and that every manager needs a certain dose of leadership.

I think it is accurate to talk about it as management skills and simply leadership (not leadership skills). Leadership is a whole other matter as the list below demonstrates. One is more about calculation and order, the other is more about passion and vision. One is primarily about procedure, the other is primarily about connection. Often times the system prefers the manager as he or she is more predictable and therefore controllable. Therefore managers tend to be promoted more easily as they have a very important characteristic for promotion: compliance.

The biggest problem with leadership is how recent changes in society (dating back perhaps to the time of Machiavelli) has created a “glorification” around leadership. It has made leadership into a “type”. It has made leadership an act – an act that revolves around the leader. It has ultimately turned it into a disingenuous charade. If there is one thing to say to those in positions of leadership it is the following: just be yourself, everyone else is taken (Oscar Wilde). Authenticity is everything. There is no need for an introvert to act like an extrovert, or for a feeler to act like a thinker (reference to Myers-Briggs). There is no need to read a book on leadership and then start to act like that person. The acting part is what has made leadership in our present age degrade so strongly. People lead differently and that is good, as we are all so different. The function of leadership can take many forms – the most important thing is the desire to make those around you better, smarter, and more successful… every single day.