Leadership Beginnings: Two Things a Leader is Not

For a pretty long time, the term 'leader' has been seen as synonymous with 'boss' and 'manager' but in practice, they are different things altogether. In my previous post, I talked about the things one should know before embarking on the path of leadership. This post is a build-up on that issue and I recommend you read that article as well. Before I go into today's business, let me remind you that leadership today is not the same as it used to be some decades ago. It has evolved for the better and continues to change. The things that worked those days don't work today.

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A Leader Is Not...

1. A Boss

When you hear the title "boss", what comes to mind? I bet your guess would be an individual who gives orders to others probably while lying on a summer bed beside a pool and sipping on a cocktail as well. Well, a boss is not far from that. In fact, that's a clear picture of who a boss is. Whiles it is quite impossible to be a boss without any leadership skills, bosses usually lack some vital parts of leadership.

The Boss always knows the importance of "together we stand, divided we fall" but is too arrogant or short-sited to cooperate with his followers. The Boss is not ready to get his hands dirty. He always send others to do his dirty jobs. Besides, bosses inspires fear in their followers, and mostly use words like, "go" and "I". The boss cares only about the productivity level, and depends on authority. Most importantly, bosses like to take credit. For instance, the whole of this article is my work. I don't really care about that guy who did the proofreading for me. I am the boss. Just kidding!

2. A Manager

At the mention of "manager" your best guess would be of this guy in a suit who assigns tasks to people and uses incentives to boost productivity. Also your are right. The manager does all that. A manager is quite often mistaken for a leader but as it is with the bosses, managers also miss some parts of leadership.

The manager is not a risk-taker. He plays it safe all the time and tries to use incentives to elevate productivity. For instance, like and share this article and I'll write about you in my next post. The manager plans, organizes stuff and makes rules. Like the boss, a manager also usually uses the word, "go". This implies that the manager is controlling and results oriented; always trying to do the right things. Managers also tend to blame their team members in case of failure. A manager is always preoccupied by his results that he doesn't have the time to care about his team members or their growth. Besides managers are threatened by the achievements of their people and may not bother helping his team become better. Jim Rohn puts it this way, "Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people see themselves better than they are."

A Leader Is... 

...Someone who rallies people with a common goal or objective, shows them how to achieve it and goes on to achieve it with them.
The distinguishing features of a leader from a boss and a managers are few and most often negligible however they are separate people altogether.
The leader is not one for the cautious. He takes risks and seek to do the right things rather than doing things right. A leader inspires enthusiasm in his followers rather than fear. The one and only most important measure of a leader is not what results he gets but how many followers he turns into leaders and that is why leaders are thrilled by the achievements of their followers instead of being threatened. Every leaders understands the spirit of teamwork and usually use the phrase, "Let's go" and the word, "we". Leaders are achievement oriented and focuses less on results. They also are proactive and cares about the well-being and growth of their people. Leaders walk the path and urge their followers on. A leader will not tell you to go where he hasn't gone. They nurture and enhance their followers to be better people. In times of failure, leaders take the blame rather than shift it onto their people.
The above qualities are some of the things that set a leader apart from a boss and a manager. There are many other qualities and things leaders do as well as understand. Those will unfold in later posts but for now these are the things that stand out the most in every leader.



The path of a leader is not always easy. Every leader understands the value of perseverance and determination because they're the things that will keep you going when the going gets tough.
So, all said and done I believe after reading this article you are better equipped to tell a leader apart from a boss and a manager or better still be a leader without blemish.

Thanks for reading!

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