When it comes to leadership and management, the two are vastly different. While management consists of being in control of a set of employees to achieve a goal, leadership falls more along the lines of inspiring employees and motivating them to do better every day.

When running a business, you’ll likely find you fall a bit into one, the other, or both of these categories. At the end of the day, there are pros and cons of each of these titles. Here are some notable differences between leading and managing. 

Leading

Leaders go far beyond the typical responsibilities of management. When you’re a leader, you can depend on those working for you and with you. You wake up every day with the intent to inspire others and show them the strength that comes with teamwork.

Many managers often wonder why employees aren’t too fond of them, seem to lack motivation, or don’t take work as seriously as they had hoped. This is where leadership comes in. While it’s important to manage and delegate tasks as someone who is in charge, it is even more important to show that you are not only just going through the motions, but you are dedicated to making the work environment a great experience for everyone involved.

Without leadership, businesses tend to have a lower employee retention rate and often struggle to understand what motivates their employees, which is extremely important when it comes to creating a great relationship between yourself, your employees, and the overall mission of the company.

While your overall goal may be to make a lot of money, letting your employees know that you are looking to increase revenue so you can better provide for your family, pay medical bills, or build a new home, this will show that at the end of the day, you are a person outside of this organization who has their own values, goals, and motivations in life.

This will also open the floor for you to get to know one another better and build long-lasting relationships.

Managing

This side of business involves a lot of planning, delegating, and carrying out tasks with help of other colleagues and subordinates. What sets a manager apart from the rest, and puts them more toward the category of leadership is the ability to communicate, give guidance, and inspire employees to do their very best every day.

Unfortunately, with managers being in charge of so many different tasks, it’s very hard to stray from the big-picture goals of the organization and spend some time on building relationships with your employees and inspiring them to partake in the overall company goals. 

Making that step into leadership is beneficial for any person in power, especially business owners, managers, and those who run the day-to-day operations of a business. This way, you can ensure that all of the employees are on the same page and at the end of the day, you realize you are more alike than you think and want to support each other.

Do you need help turning your management style into more of a leadership? I can help. For years, I’ve worked with dozens of business owners and have helped them create a dynamic that works for the overall betterment of their company. 

Contact me today to get started!