Managing or Leading? Four Key Differences Between Being a Manager and an Inspiring Leader
When I encourage people to be inspiring leaders, to be more intentional about being an inspiring leader, I am not knocking managers. You need good managers. Managers play a critical role in any successful company, and learning great management skills is absolutely critical. But there is an important difference between being a manager and being a leader, and it’s not just about semantics.
The more intentional managers are about being real leaders, the more successful your company will be. Period. And if you’re a manager, the more intentional you are about being a leader, the happier you will be. You will feel a far greater sense of purpose in your work when you become more intentional about your leadership. You will have less stress. Less conflict. You’ll come home at the end of a hard day at work and your spouse will say, “What’s WRONG with you? You’re so happy?!”
You’ve probably seen those lists floating around social media – the difference between being a “boss” and being a true “leader”:
Bosses command…leaders inspire.
Bosses create more followers…leaders create more leaders.
Bosses know all the answers…leaders ask questions.
Bosses talk more than they listen…leaders listen more than they talk.
Bosses blame others…leaders take responsibility for their own actions.
Bosses command…leaders coach.
Bosses are cat people…leaders are dog people.
Okay, that last one I made up. But you get the gist. There are dozens of these lists floating around, and without question, they are a good reminder of some important differences between being a manager or boss – or worse still, a bossy manager!
Based on 20 years of research looking at the characteristics of inspiring leaders, including dozens of interviews with CEOs and senior leaders, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are four fundamental differences, four key traits of an effective, inspiring leader:
1. Leadership is about character. It’s not about job title, position or power in the traditional sense. Any boss can whip out their business card (at least, metaphorically) and play the power position: “I’m the boss around here, it’s my way or the highway.” As soon as you’ve pulled that card, you’ve actually lost real power. You’ve lost the chance to influence and inspire people around you in the long term. You’ve created a “have to” situation instead of a “want to” mindset.
True leadership is about influencing people with the force of your character. It’s not about what you are, it’s about who you are as a person. It’s about modeling values in an outrageously loud way. Leaders are always “on” because your actions really do speak louder than words. And because true leadership has nothing to do with where you sit on the organizational chart, it can be found at every level in your company. Great workplaces are built around the concept of “leaders leading leaders” because they recognize that leadership is something that to be nurtured and respected at every level.
Every day, there are extraordinary examples of people stepping up in their jobs to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around them, whether it be their fellow employees or their customers. That’s leadership.
Leadership is about character. At the start of every day take a few minutes to pause and ask yourself, “What impact am I going to make today on the people around me from the force of my character?”
2. Leadership is about inspiring people. leadership isn’t about the “STUFF.” So much of what we do at work as managers revolves around stuff. Budgets, paperwork, all that administrative STUFF. You can’t really, as far as I’m aware, lead stuff.
Conversely, leadership is about people.
Let’s face it, no one likes to be managed. Have you ever tried to manage your spouse? I have…and I’ve got to be honest, I’ve never enjoyed those nights sleeping on the couch! But people want to be led! They are hungry for leadership. Especially inspiring leadership than inspires them to be their best and to want to to contribute their energy, passion, and ideas.
Look, we know that one of the top reasons good employees quit and move on to greener pastures has little to do with the actual green (as in moola) and everything to do with the culture of the workplace and their direct boss. Leaders take to heart that the people they are leading are actual human beings with lives that extend beyond the workday. Human beings with families and hopes and dreams and fears and insecurities. Human beings with actual beating hearts.
Speaking of beating hearts…one study found that when the “boss” was away from the office for the day, employees’ blood pressure dropped – substantially! Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d feel horrible knowing that just my presence was making other people’s blood pressure spike!
So remember – every time you interact with another human being at work, be more present and intentional about your leadership. Embrace the notion that yes, people are messy, and weird, and flawed, and not remotely perfect – in other words, they’re a lot like you. But they are not “stuff” – they are everything that matters when it comes to creating a rocking great workplace.
Leadership is about putting people front and center.
3. Leadership is future-focused. Of course, managers plan for the future when they lay out a new budget or work on a strategic plan. But for the most part, management is about making sure today works. The business opens on time. Nothing blows up. People show up. Nothing catches on fire. The business shuts down for the day. Rinse and repeat.
When I’ve interviewed senior leaders, I’m always struck by how future-focused their language is – they are always talking about their vision, where they are headed, where they want to be in three years as a team and as a company. They have a growth mindset. They have a mindset and attitude that abhors complacency, that shuns the status quo. They are restless and never happy with “good enough.”
Leaders constantly ask themselves, “In terms of my own skills, where do I need to be a year from now, or five years from now?”
Leaders always ask, “Where does our company need to be five years or even ten years from now?”
Leaders always ask, “What do we need to change around here to make a difference?”
True leaders recognize their are three choices when it comes to change
#1. Ignore it and hope for the best – never a good strategy.
#2. Adapt to the change happening around you.
#3: Lead the change. Notice the word lead is right in that sentence? The essence of leadership is just that, leading people towards a new destination. Leading is an action word –
leaders are the first to take the leap, the first to step outside their comfort zone, the first to try something completely new.
Leaders rarely waste time looking backwards, they are relentlessly future-focused.
4. Leaders see the entire pie. By nature of how we define management and break up the pie in companies, managers have control over a certain slice of the pie. These are “my” people, my dollars, my resources, my sliver of the pie. This mindset can’t help but lead to internal conflicts over who gets what and who gets how much. And because of how managers’ duties are defined, the system encourages managers to first and foremost focus only on their slice, leading to a bunker mentality and the formation of those dreaded workplace silos where no one interacts with each other across teams and no one ever, ever gets to taste each other’s pie. (Okay, maybe the metaphor broke down a little there.)
Leaders see the entire pie: They think about what’s best for the entire company. They don’t see resources as zero-sum game. They think in terms of the big picture. Leaders think win-win. Leaders are focused on what’s best for the customer, what’s best for the company’s success, what’s best for ALL of our people, even when it might mean sacrificing a part of their slice of the pie.
Leaders, in other words, think and speak in terms of “we.”
**************************************************************************************************
So…who do you want to be? Because it really does start with a choice. It’s starts with a willingness to learn; a growth mindset.
I don’t for a moment think that leaders are “born” that way. Sure, some might have a head start because of genetics or how they were raised. But I’ve never met a leader who doesn’t believe that the essence of inspiring leadership can’t be learned. Every great leader I know talks about how much they had to learn, about how many times they screwed up on the road to success, about how many books they read to help them develop as leaders and as human beings, and how many people helped them along the way.
And above all else, I’ve come to realize, it really does start by simply being more intentional, about making the intentional choice to be not just an employee…not just a manager…not just “the boss”…but a truly inspiring leader willing to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around them.
Michael Kerr is a Hall of Fame international business speaker, motivational speaker, and trainer on workplace culture and inspiring leadership. His blog has been recognized as one of the top-75 workplace blogs in the world. He is also the author of seven books, including, The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank. www.Mikekerr.com
