Who is a leader? What is the difference between managers and leaders?
One of the reasons for business people to be successful is the ability to lead. In this article, we want to learn the differences between managers and leaders.
What is leadership?
Leadership simply means affecting others, getting into someone’s heart and accompanying them. So when people follow you willingly, and not by force, you are their leader.
The key to this definition is to get to others’ heart. It means the followers love their leader and support his/her ideas because they believe in the person. That leader inspires them and brings them closer to what they want.
Wrong thoughts about leadership
Most people think leadership is only for business, work, society, politics and companies. It is not wrong but not entirely true either. Political and big company leaders are at the highest level of leadership.
According to our definition of leadership, everyone can be a leader in their position.
Leaders care about the others’ emotions and this is one of the differences between managers and leaders.
Every time someone accompanies you for your idea, they are following you willingly, you are their leader. You might be a teacher who guides your students, so you are a leader in your classroom.
If your child follows you willingly in a particular aspect of life, it means you are the leader. When your manager agrees with you on something in your company, it means he is following his leader who is you.
The difference is the level of leadership. Obviously, who leads more people, has a higher place in leadership.
Therefore, leadership is for everyone, and we need to learn how to be a good leader.
Why should we improve our leadership skills?
Leaders affect society. When you learn the best way to be a leader, you can have a better effect on your follower, which are the citizens of your community.
We all need someone’s help to grow and improve. Leaders can help by inspiring and guiding us. They are successful, and they make their followers successful too.
John Maxwell, the author of “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership“: “Dominance over your technical skills makes you a bound successful. What expands your success is the ability to lead”.
The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership book talks about the differences between managers and leaders.
The result of improving the leadership skills
• Your credibility increases among family, friends and workplace.
• You income raises remarkably.
• You become effective in life, family and work.
• Others will love you and to be close to you.
• You become a thoughtful person who inspires people, friends and families.
• And finally, the most important result is that you are happy with your life because of being productive, lovely among others and using your abilities to improve others’ lives.
Can we teach leadership?
People thought it was a special gift before and leaders inherit their ability to lead, but scientists have realized something entirely different these days. We can say some people have the ability of leadership in their blood, but others can improve it too.
What to do when your boss shows favoritism?
The difference between a leader and a manager
Before explaining it, remember that leadership and management are two different positions and roles, and they don’t necessarily refer to two different people.
A person can be a leader and a manager at the same time, be powerful or weak in each of them. The idealistic idea is that a manager can improve to the level of a leader.
The differences between a leader and a manager
There are many differences between managers and leaders, one of which is that leaders convince you emotionally and logically.
1- The power of a leader comes from popularity and being accepted
Managers get their positions and role from a facility or higher position, but a leader becomes a leader because people love him/her.
Imagine a teacher who forces a student to do some homework, this person is a manager here, but another student will do homework because he loves his teacher. Here, the teacher is the student’s leader.
2- Making a change
Usually, the manager seeks the income of the situation and its proficiency. Managers are not looking for considerable change. On the other hand, leaders want to change the current situation into a better one. They see a bigger picture and define it beautifully for the employees, so they become inspired and motivated to work better and harder out of the love they have for their leader.
3- Leaders involve the employees’ emotions
The manager explains everyone’s task logically and rationally, and they have to go as it was planned. But leaders use excitement and motivation to do the same. This is why most people love their leaders and follow them because a leader cares about employees’ emotions.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that leaders are not rational. They use their remarkable ability to mix emotions and logic to motivate their followers.
4- Leaders care about “whys.”
One of the differences between managers and leaders is that leaders care about why something must happen.
Managers want to do the job, but leaders want to do the right job.
Managers explain how things get done, but leaders look for the reason why these certain activities must be done. When they understand the reason, they easily motivate others to do it.
5- Leaders count on others’ commitment
Managers control others, punish and encourage them with the help of their official rank and position to get things done.
Leaders support others and use particular behaviors. Also, they notice the skills of others and define what they need to do based on it. That’s why followers love leaders and are committed to them.
In conclusion, leadership is a skill that helps you to be more productive and hopeful in life. Therefore, it’s necessary and crucial to invest in your leadership skills and expand your success area.
