Are you and your managers strong leaders, or just managers? This is a fundamental question for all organizations and it’s common to confuse management and leadership: 

• Management is a position charged with directing, supervising, and organizing the team. 
• Leadership is a mindset, not a position. Leaders engage and inspire the team to achieve the goals of the organization.

Based on those definitions it’s obvious that a business needs both! Managers focus on daily tasks and compliance. The necessary tasks that keep your business humming on a daily basis.  But your leadership team should be focused on the big picture and how to motivate your employees to achieve goals. A common mistake business owners make is to promote a great manager into a leadership role.  

The skills that make an individual a great manager (attention to detail, taskmaster) don’t transfer into great leadership!  A leader allows their team to see what is possible and creates a desire within the team for personal development. A strong leader is firm, but also the head cheerleader for the team. The leader sets the tone for the organization and their team members want to follow them.  Managers place focus on tasks, where leaders focus on the growth of the team and the business.

To become a strong leader, you have to inspire people to do better and to help them do more. A leader is passionate about the team’s success. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being Exceptional and 1 being Poor), how would you rate yourself and your manager’s leadership skills?