“What’s the difference between a leader and a manager?” she asked.  I was sitting in front of this executive because this was the crux of the issue going on in her company.

I was unprepared for the question and therefore rambled on WAY too long. I was sure I did not get her business.  Fortunately, somewhere in my long winded answer she heard something she liked, and she hired me to work with her team leaders.

Now I can answer her question in four words –

Behaviors, Followers, Titles, Subordinates

Leader Vs. Manager

Good Leaders Need To Manage As Well

First let me be clarify a few things:

• Managing is a component of good leadership.
• To be an effective leader, you need to be a good manager.
• But, being a good manager does not necessarily make me a good leader.
• Management is about resources and processes. Leadership is about people.

Maybe the question is, “How do I know if I am dealing with a real leader or just a manager?”

Titles and Subordinates

If my title is the primary reason people comply with my instructions, then I am merely managing subordinates. I may be a very competent manager. I may be very good at resources and process management. But, if my influence ends because I have a title, or because I am competent, then I have fallen short of leading and creating followers.

To expand on this topic more click on the following title: Five Ways a Leader Becomes a Manager

Behaviors and Followers

My behaviors will determine whether people follow me. How a leader behaves on a consistent basis, will attract committed followers. Real leadership combines both the competency and the character of the leader.

I define character as the sum total of a person’s habits – the good habits of character and the bad habits of character. A short list may include:

• Integrity
• Courage
• Humility
• Selflessness
• Attitude

To read more on the topic of character click on the following title: Buzzword Defined: Character

Individuals become followers as a result of the behaviors they observe from the leader. Competency alone will get most individuals to comply with a leader’s instructions. But, it is character that creates committed followers.

The Bottom Line:

I recognized in my corporate career that there are real leaders and there are just managers. Sometimes they have the same title on their business cards!

How I behave on a regular basis – my habits – does more than my job title to determine whether I am a real leader with followers or just a manager with subordinates.

The executive who first asked me, “What’s the difference between a leader and a manager?” was looking someone to help her develop her managers into leaders.

Question:

Do you have compliant subordinates or committed followers? How can you change that?

P. S. Thank You!

Six weeks ago, I started IMPACT Talk Radio.  In that short period of time we have seen over 150,000 downloads of our shows!  It has been incredible!  I hope you will take a second to check out the show by clicking on the following title:  IMPACT Talk Radio.

You can also find us on iTunes.