Leaders vs. Managers — are they the same thing?
I’ve been managing a small team of seven over the last few years. Having worked very closely with our C-suite team and other executive leaders, I’ve been able to learn about many different types of leadership styles and qualities, and how that affects decision-making.
The main lesson I’ve learned is that unfortunately, not all managers are automatically leaders, but they should strive to be. Before any person becomes a manager, they should first understand what it takes to be a leader. Leaders provide vision and direction, are people-first, and pave the path to breed other leaders on the team. I’ve boiled it down to three core qualities and actions that I believe we all must embrace to become the best leaders we can be. True leadership requires empathy, discretion, and discipline, and once embodied, they will naturally incite thoughtful leadership action.
- Quality: Empathy | Action: Empowerment
Empathy, being able to relate to one another and recognize the similarities in our humanity, should be at the core of any business.Whether it’s interacting with clients, partners, investors, or colleagues — we must always be able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes first. Some managers are known for simply passing off the work and bossing their subordinates around, but these manager are not leaders. The best managers have and use empathy: they understand, appreciate, put in the actual work, and will also inspire the team to do the same.
As managers, we should also exhibit a certain degree of control and regulation; employees need to know the parameters of their work and that is established partially by our authoritative and supervisory presence. I’m not suggesting we roll over and turn a blind eye to what our subordinates are doing, but rather, to recognize that individual autonomy is crucial for any employee’s long-term success and health. Managers don’t need to embody the criticalness and fear (that micro-managers often rely on) to instil respect and accountability from employees. True leaders and managers should empower their subordinates by giving them the tools to succeed, intervening when needed, and reassuring them that we will always be there for support and guidance. But it is up to us to instil that confidence in them — their ability to succeed is our sole responsibility. I always saw it this way: if my subordinate was doing a poor job, that means I needed to step up my game as a manager.
Trust is a two-way street: just as our employees are trusting us to fairly compensate them for their time and work, we must also trust that they are doing their work as outlined for them as best as they can. Always remember empathy. Managers and employees are on the same team, working towards the same objectives of bringing value to the business.
2. Quality: Discretion | Action: Communication
Managers take in loads of information daily from various sources, and often have to think on their feet and make quick decisions. Having a strong sense of discretion is important; there is a time and place for everything, and not everything needs to be disclosed to all parties at the same time. Recognize social settings and contexts. I would not share sensitive information from a 1:1 performance review in an office-wide discussion. Respecting the privacy and integrity of other peoples’ work is often overlooked, and managers must learn to use sound judgment and choose the most appropriate channels to communicate.
Just like in any other human relationships, communication is a necessity. The moment a leader stops communicating with the team is the moment they stop being a leader. True leaders must communicate thoughtfully, eloquently, patiently, and empathetically in any situation, no matter how difficult or tense the situation might be. If an employee is not made aware of their mistake, how would they know to correct it going forward? If an investor is not made aware of the financial stability of the business, why would they continue to support your business? If a client is not made aware of an interruption in the service, why would they continue to pay for the service?
Without honest and transparent communication across the board from the leaders at the top, it’s hard for employees to follow suit and mobilize in the right direction. As managers, we must use our discretion in what, when, where, and how we communicate with each other.
3. Quality: Self-discipline | Action: Execution
Self-discipline can be a tough mental game. It requires adhering to and regulating your own emotions, and representing them in the way you lead and execute. Follow through is essential: employees depend on managers to take appropriate action when necessary. Whether it’s a PR crisis or a business model pivot, employees trust us to have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to execute tasks professionally and timely. Just as our employees are accountable to us, we also owe them that protection and safety net that we have things under control and have their backs. This is shown by following through on what we say we will do, which requires strong self-discipline.
For any idea or movement to advance, there must be implementation; ideas without execution are rendered worthless. As managers, we have to think twice before we declare our ideas as “word”. To them, our word is bond —so if we say we will be doing something within a period of time, we create an expectation for the team so we have to follow through on that to bolster trust and accountability. Things will inevitably come up and ideas will no longer be viable. If we make a mistake with our words, that’s where integrity comes in and we must own up to our mistakes. Understand that our actions contain a ripple effect. We need to have the self-discipline to execute on our ideas and to demonstrate integrity when we cannot.
Leadership isn’t easy — it’s an ongoing, ever-evolving learning curve and journey. As Simon Sinek once said, “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” Once we recognize that leadership means to put people first, we can then empower others, communicate our decisions, and execute our our ideas. But it first starts with the qualities within us.
