A woman once told me there are people that make things happen, people that watch things happen, and people that ask what happened. The woman's philosophy made me think about America's economy because most entrepreneurs make things happen. Nevertheless, in the field of business, there are leaders and there are managers.
As an entrepreneur, you must have excellent leadership skills. Leadership and management can be defined in many ways. Based on one's work and life experiences, the terms may be synonymous nevertheless the roles are quite different. With that said, are you a leader or a manager? Take a minute to brainstorm. Write down traits that you feel a leader possesses and traits that a manager possesses. If you need some help, reflect on a time when you had to take a leadership role at school, work, church, home, etc. Then think about a time when you went to a store or restaurant and you wanted to speak with a manager or the manager spoke with you...what did they say? What were they doing? Did they handle the situation? How does the previous tie into your definition of a leader versus a manager?
Leadership, to some this term may be scary because there is a great deal of responsibility that comes with being a leader. However, the thing to remember is that people are sheep meaning followers and if you have a vision, a goal or a plan, the possibilities are endless. As a leader you must ask yourself: What needs to be done? When do these tasks need to be completed? Who is capable of handling this task? By leading, motivating and molding your star players you will build a successful management team which will become capable of running the day-to-day operations of your business. Remember, the key is to work smarter not harder!
Managers control or direct the group according to the principals established by the leader. The manager must determine how to meet the leader's goals and ensure that the plan is working. An ideal manager must also be on the same page as the leader and capable of independent thinking. The leader establishes what needs to be done and the manager focuses how to get the job done. The manager must decide who will do what job and how the leader's vision will be carried out. Managers also work closer with employees and know their strengths and weaknesses. He or she must assign tasks accordingly. Overall, an effective manger is someone who shares the same vision as the leader and can work with little supervision because there are times when a manager needs to make decisions without the leader.
In essence, a competent entrepreneur must possess qualities of both a leader and a manager. Therefore, leaders need to know how to manage and managers need to know how to lead. An individual who has mastered these traits, would truly be an asset to any organization especially his or her own, leader or manager? Which one are you?
