Do you have to be one or the other? What’s the difference?
There is a difference but truly successful people have qualities of both and can switch between leader and manager as the situation dictates.
Let’s say a report indicates that your company’s customer service performance has slipped. A manager books the conference room and sets up training “re-fresher” meetings to review company expectations with employees. A leader calls a meeting to talk to employees and motivates them to re-focus on customer service; two approaches that achieve the same outcome.
Managers are organized, goal-oriented problem solvers. A good manager analyses a situation, finds the best solution and works in that direction.
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March 31, 2009
Managers and leaders think differently. That doesn’t mean you need a split personality to possess the traits of both. You do need some sharp self-awareness skills.
Do you have great ideas that excite people but find nothing gets very far?
Leaders like you thrive on challenge and get bored with routine. If you recognize this about yourself, you can temper that passion enough to develop some practical problem-solving strategies. Turning a good idea into a successful project requires the skills of a manager. A manager looks at available resources, comes up with a plan of action and implements it efficiently.
If you are a manager who focuses on cost analyses and inventory reports, you may not notice when employee morale is low. Even great managers need to get out of their offices everyday and mingle with the employees.
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