Stop being a Manager. Be a Leader instead.

Hard work does not always equal good results

Let me ask you: is there a difference between a Manager and a Leader?

Hopefully the answer is a resounding hell yeah. Let me ask you another question if you are a leader of other leaders: have you asked them lately whether they are managers or leaders? If not, go ahead and ask them next time you see them, AND ask them why they feel the way they do. Trust me, it will open up a delightful Pandora's box of discovery that will make your relationship with your leaders more transparent, honest, and constructive, and might open your eyes quite a bit!!

Back to the main point.

By definition, a Manager is a person who “manages”, which according to Merriam-Webster, is a person “who conducts business or household affairs”. And let me tell you, that is one extremely weak descriptor.

The word “manager” is useful in describing a job title, and a description of responsibilities. However, what I have issue with more than the word, is the mentality that many people have when they confuse managing for leading. They are certainly not the same thing.

There are times when the two intersect, but that’s not always the case.

A manager may be a leader, and a leader may not be a manager. Think about that for a second.

You may remember a time when you were a leader of other folks even though you did not hold the title of manager. On the flip side, can you remember a time when you had a manager, who was definitely NOT a good leader? I bet you probably have at least one example for each of these two scenarios.

There are many things that separate a manager from a leader, but here are several areas to give you food for thought:

1. Are you excited to do what you’re doing at work, and can’t wait to keep doing more of it?

That’s a great sign. Leaders are thoroughly immersed in the world that they create and are passionate about what they do that it doesn’t seem like a drag or like work at all. Instead, going to work is a way for them to express their deepest desires to succeed and make a difference in their surroundings, and they always seem to be on a mission.

Think about it in your own personal life. Do you have a hobby where you just get lost in time, and before you know it hours have flown by? That’s called flow state, and leaders experience that often. Take Elon Musk for instance. He is an extreme example of a leader who is renowned for juggling various projects tirelessly with his attention shared between SpaceX, Tesla, the Boring Company, Neuralink, and SolarCity. You might have even heard about his intense desire to make the Tesla 3 succeed despite severe factory production delays, that he worked tirelessly with his team to the point of sleeping on the factory floor until the problems were resolved. And of course, the Tesla 3 is everywhere you look today in major US cities.

(Learn more about ‘flow state’ and how to get more in that zone from this Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor.

2. Managers are constantly overwhelmed and reactive

On the flip side, a manager is constantly not in charge of their environment. They feel inundated by a barrage of stuff that comes out of nowhere that overwhelms them and produces a great deal of stress and anxiety in their lives.

There are many factors for that, but many managers struggle with delegating responsibilities to others, and doing many tasks themselves because they can do it better than anyone else, or so they think. They may not trust the ability of other members of the team to get the job done at the level of quality required. Managers often make poor and nonstrategic hiring decisions that do not add talent and bench strength to their teams, making an already bad situation worse.

If you find yourself in this situation, you’re on the right track by reading this article – educate yourself on leadership, and implement what you learn into your work on a daily basis, and be patient. Leadership is a skill that you hone over years of practice, and with effort and learning from your mistakes you will be a great leader.

3. Managers are bored and run out of things to do

It’s fair to say that if you’re in any position and you’re feeling bored, you should move on to something else. You are short-changing yourself if you stay in a role that does not excite or inspire you. By the same token, a leader never stops thinking and imagining the next problem or challenge that needs to be improved or addressed so they have not time to be bored.

A bored Manager is toxic to an organization and will hold it back by virtue of their disengagement and not giving their role the attention and leadership that it deserves.

Consider for a moment Amazon and their patent quantity between 2010 and 2018. During that time period, the quantity of patents registered in the US went from 118 to 2,035, which is a 1624% increase in eight years.

Jeff Bezos hired top talent, and empowered and challenged his leaders to relentlessly seek ways to improve every process that needs improvement, and the result is one-day free shipping that many of us have become so used to, that it has become a standard expectation now. There’s no way bored managers would not have gotten Amazon to this point.

I may not agree with all of Amazon’s methods of doing business, but there are lessons to be learned from such an organization that was ahead of the curve from the moment it was created, and has become so ubiquitous in our lives.

4. You attract people in your life who support your cause

Leaders develop a following. Those followers can sometimes be folks who follow you in the traditional sense and listen to what you have to say because you motivate and inspire them.

However other followers are people who are your boss, or someone who sees your potential and wants you to develop and grow. Again, leaders do not necessarily have a position of management, but because of their leadership traits, they get recognized for their abilities and get an opportunity to rise and prove themselves.

One of my mentors told me once, ‘if you want to be promoted to the next role, you should already be doing the job even before you have the title.’ Leaders are self-motivated and don’t wait for others to tell them what to do – rather they find the problem, fix it, and naturally attract attention because of their deeds.

5. You take risks, you fail, and you learn

Leaders take risks all the time. That does not mean they make risky choices – there’s a big difference between the two. Rather, leaders have a vision of what they want, and they take the time to learn and educate themselves about the choices they have at their disposal.

However, they are also not afraid of charting a new course where there is no path, and leave a trail for others to follow. They are not plagued by analysis paralysis and getting stuck unable to make a decision to the point of inaction. They shape their surroundings and inspire the folks around them to see the same vision and see how they can all work towards achieving that dream together. They all feel it, see it, believe in it, and align their energy towards that singular vision that is unstoppable.

With that risk comes the possibility of failure. But that fear of failure is overcome by the fact that there is a team of people working together to achieve that goal, and that any setbacks along the way can be learned from and used as lessons not failures.

6. You listen

Listening to others is not a luxury or a choice. It is a key part of a leader’s philosophy. Leaders recognize that there is no way they can know everything, or be experts on all matters. They are confident enough to acknowledge that they need help, and are secure in themselves and what they contribute that they do not need to prove it by being the best and having the best ideas all the time. Rather, they allow other leaders to have their chance and contribute to the vision.

Managers are afraid of hiring people who are better than them.

They are afraid of being eclipsed by someone else’s talent, or shining star. You have probably experienced a Manager who was afraid of delegating too much responsibility to others because they were terrified of becoming useless if everyone else knew what their job entailed.

The truth is that yes, a person who thinks that their biggest contribution to their organization and team is just the tasks that they complete, then they are absolutely right to feel terrified. They are completely replaceable because tasks do not define a leader. Vision and inspiration do.

7. You never settle for less

Leaders have exacting standards. I love cars, so take a moment and think about your favorite car if money was no object.

Of course, this is subjective, but for me, it is the Porsche Taycan. You have to take it for a drive up Southern California’s windy mountain roads to understand how much passion, detail, and attention was put into the creation of this piece of art on wheels, but I digress.

The point is that you likely recognize that Porsche has high standards in the realm of creating fast cars that move people literally and emotionally.

As a leader you have a brand, and part of that brand has to be your relentless desire to be among the best. Kobe Bryant grew up watching the greats of basketball who inspired him – incredible greats like Michael Jordan. He set them as his standard, and became determined to emulate them. Now that’s a high standard to set your sights on.

If you are starting off on your path of leadership, find extremely talented leaders in your organization and be friends with them, have them mentor you. Learn from them, and compete with them on their level of talent, and challenge yourself to become the standard by which others are compared.

There are certainly many, many attributes that separate a leader from a manager.

Feel free to share a couple of your thoughts about what separates the two and share your comments!

Thank you for reading the article!