What Is Your Leadership Edge?
People often confuse the terms leadership and management as if they are the same, but they are not.
A manager focuses on:
- Planning and budgeting
- Organizing and staffing
- Controlling and problem solving
Whereas a leader focuses on:
- Establishing the direction and strategies
- Aligns people and effectively communicates and collaborates
- Motivates and inspires
Sometimes you’ll find effective managers that are also leaders and there are also great leaders that are NOT good managers.
As a small business owner we must learn to do both.
Below is a list of traits and areas of focus for managers and leaders so that you can assess and grow your skills.
Leadership
- Vision and strategy
- Influence and motivates
- Sets direction
- Inspires
- Communicates goals
- Takes risk
- Leads change
- People focused
- Builds teams
- Collaboration focused
- Inspires trust
- Does the right things
Managers
- Goals and objective focus
- Organization and structure
- Power and control
- Thinks execution
- Rules and Procedures
- Risk and change adverse
- Generates solutions
- Corrects and resolves issues
- Directing and controlling
- Does things right
The key to finding your leadership edge is to:
- Build upon your existing leadership skills
- Know your leadership style and how it impacts others
- Hire and collaborate with people that have strengths where you have weaknesses and those that can thrive in the cultural environment you create
- Constantly learn and upgrade your knowledge around business and leadership
- Be inspired and mentored by those that are great leaders and pay it forward!
For more leadership strategies, tips and resources, gain access to our Small Business Leadership Edge series.
Looking forward to connecting with you on the inside!
Warmly,
Toni
